


Danganronpa Forever: Bloodshed Bliss

by DoomedTemperament



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Class Trials (Dangan Ronpa), Execution, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, Illustrations, Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Murder, Mystery, Original Character(s), POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21863275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomedTemperament/pseuds/DoomedTemperament
Summary: As for why I’m called the ‘ultimate journalist’ instead of just ‘a journalist’... You can attribute that to Hope’s Peak Academy. The finest school in Japan, known for cultivating talent and inspiring hope for and in the youth of the future. It’s an incredibly exclusive school that you can only enter by being scouted (or, if you’re incredibly lucky, by winning a lottery), and one that I’ve had the distinct privilege of attending for the last year and a half. All expenses paid in a relaxed environment that lets me do almost anything I want, within reason, as long as I simply show up for class every once in a while and live in one of the dorms.I didn’t wake up in my dorm today.---Current chapter: Ch. 1 Class Trial (part 2)
Relationships: Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 7
Kudos: 19





	1. Promotional Video & Author's Notes

**Author's Note:**

> Made some pretty big revisions to the original work (though most of it comes in the next chapters) so I'm going to attempt to post it again and see where it gets me. The mastermind, deaths, etc. are all already planned out (to a degree) so hopefully this will actually get finished if enough people are interested in it.
> 
> Not sure what else I can say, so... please enjoy!

AUTHOR'S WELCOME:

First of all, thank you for taking the time to take a look at Danganronpa Forever: Bloodshed Bliss! For those dropping in just now-- The story has already begun!

**Please read the story in chronological order for the best experience!**

Some visual elements may be included in each chapter (CGs, body discovery videos, etc.) These elements are best viewed on desktop, but the story will still be readable on most mobile devices.

(If you haven't seen the trailer yet, you can watch it below, or [click here!](https://youtu.be/wQINu99dT_c))

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this labor of love!


	2. Prologue

_Head pounding. Ears ringing. Limbs weighted. Vision blurry, but I’ve been awake for at least a minute. I don’t remember going to bed sick. I remember going to bed... excited? But why? I don’t think I have anything going on today. All that happens when I think about it is… well, my headache is getting worse now. Is there something wrong with me? Come on, Junichi, clear your head and get up already!_

As I lifted a heavy hand to rub my eyes, my vision began to clear. The first thing I saw was the ceiling of a room. But it wasn’t my bedroom... or at least, it didn’t look like it. Not quite. As I looked around, I realized it was more like a crude copy of my bedroom; The bed was in the corner of the room like it always was, the dresser off in the corner, a desk against one wall, a bookshelf against another, and a door leading to a bathroom. But while my bedroom was normally relatively minimalist, this room was definitely not. Papers were scattered along the floor, there were rows of filing cabinets lined along one wall, a corkboard with photographs and memos haphazardly organized hung upon another in place of a window, and in the center of the room, a coffee table with a lone typewriter on it. It’s everything you’d expect a stereotypical, movie-esque journalist office to look like.

Ha, ha. Whoever dragged me here must have had a sick sense of humor.

My name is Junichi Sasaki, the ultimate journalist. If you don’t already know who I am by this point, you surely must have been living under a rock. I’m only seventeen years old, and I’m already on the way to becoming a pulitzer-winning author. I’ve written articles for both national and international press, covering the hottest and most controversial topics that today’s consumers could possibly conceive. Nuclear energy scandals? Drug trafficking rings? Celebrity gossip? There’s not a single issue I haven’t covered at one point or another. You’re welcome for that, by the way.

As for why I’m called the ‘ultimate journalist’ instead of just ‘a journalist’... You can attribute that to Hope’s Peak Academy. The finest school in Japan, known for cultivating talent and inspiring hope for and in the youth of the future. It’s an incredibly exclusive school that you can only enter by being scouted (or, if you’re incredibly lucky, by winning a lottery), and one that I’ve had the distinct privilege of attending for the last year and a half. All expenses paid in a relaxed environment that lets me do almost anything I want, within reason, as long as I simply show up for class every once in a while and live in one of the dorms.

I didn’t wake up in my dorm today.

Instead, I woke up in this mockery of an office, with no memory of how I got here and no explanation for why I’m here.

But I’d be nothing if not for my inquisitive nature. So I decided to do what I do best, and investigate.

A thorough search of the room didn’t seem to reveal much. The papers scattered across the floor were littered with recounts of cases and stories I either wasn’t the author of, or didn’t care for. The corkboard wasn’t a decent source of information either, the photos and post-it notes meaningless and unfamiliar. The filing cabinets were the most intriguing, as they contained folder upon folder of documents; Some legal, some not. Again, nothing that I had much taste for, but I supposed they could be useful for something at some point. The desk drawers were full of empty notebooks and recording devices; The laptop that I always kept on my real desk was conspicuously absent, much to my chagrin— that was where I stored my most important stories.

However, in its place was a strange electronic tablet, equipped with only an on/off switch. Pressing it merely led to a static screen of the Hope’s Peak Academy crest. Odd.

Once I had examined the room sufficiently, there was nowhere else for me to move but forward. And with that, I exited the bedroom.

* * *

The first sight that greeted me was a garishly bright green corridor. To my left, a single door, leading to what I could only assume was another bedroom. To the right, three doors, most likely the same. I glanced behind me at the door I had just exited, mildly surprised to see an amateurish, pixelated rendering of myself, and a quick peek at the other doors revealed similar icons.

“Hey! Are you just gonna ignore me?”

A peppy, girlish voice snapped me out of my inspection, and I turned to the source. Standing in front of me, with a gloved finger pointing straight at my chest, was a brown-haired girl shorter than myself, dressed in a flashy purple and gold dress.

“Do I know you?” I asked, reasonably.

“I mean… maybe? No need to be so rude about it though...” The girl huffed, but perked up shortly after with a smile. “My name’s Ruri Hattori! I take it you’re from Hope’s Peak as well?”

Raising an eyebrow, I tried to mask my expression into a friendlier one.

“I am. My name is Junichi Sasaki, and I’m the ultimate journalist. I assume you have a talent as well?” I responded, trying to skirt around the garish clothing that the girl wore.

“You bet! I’m the ultimate ringmaster!”

“It’s kinda funny though,” Ruri continued on, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any of the others before either.”

“Others?” I prodded.

“Well, yeah. There are a lot of people milling around here. From the few I’ve talked to, we’re all ultimate students,” Ruri said, pouting. “But none of us really know each other that well. Maybe it’s because we’re all from different classes so far?”

“Maybe,” I pondered out loud. “Out of curiosity, which classroom were you originally in before you arrived here? Do you remember?”

“One-B!” Ruri smiled triumphantly.

“So you’re an underclassman to me,” I added. “Well, let’s hope that we get along well. Can you lead me towards the others?”

“No problem-o!”

As soon as Ruri was about to lead me down the disgustingly green hallway, another door clicked open. Apparently, not everyone had woken up at the same time that I had. Another look behind us revealed a girl wearing a bright yellow dress with a gray belt, and short, unevenly-cut blue hair. The girl looked between the two of us, but said nothing. Her blank expression suggested that she’d be the quiet type.

“Hey, hey! Welcome to the land of the living!” Ruri said cheerfully, running away from my side and greeting the new student enthusiastically.

“...”

Spot-on deduction, then.

Ruri’s smile turned awkward as she looked between me and the mystery girl.

“Um... I’m Ruri Hattori! What’s your name?”

“...”

A voice, quiet but firm, spoke out.

“Ai Kurosawa.”

Ruri stared at the girl for several seconds, then gasped dramatically, stars practically visible in her eyes.

“Oh my gosh, you’re _the_ Ai Kurosawa?! Creator of ‘Sunday Morning Fruit Funnies’ and ‘Magical Girl Megumi’?! I love your comics! They’re so cool!”

“Thank you.”

“Oh,” Ruri continued excitedly, “Let me guess: You’re the ultimate comic artist, aren’t you?”

The girl, Ai, furrowed her brows, and in that same quiet and firm voice, asked, “How did you know that?”

Ruri rocked back and forth on the heels of her tall boots, and pointed to me.

“Junichi and I are also Hope’s Peak Academy students! And I mean, how could anyone not know who you are?”

“Ultimate journalist,” I said with a restrained wave, then gestured to Ruri. “Ruri is the ultimate ringmaster. She’s going to be introducing us to some others.”

“I see.”

“Well then, let’s get moving!” Ruri gestured grandly, and motioned for the two of us to follow her.

As we walked down the expanse of the hallway, I began to feel a nagging worry in the back of my mind. Where were we? How many ultimate students were in this strange place? Who brought us here? Too many questions, none of them able to be immediately answered. But there wasn’t much point in dwelling on what I couldn’t know yet, and Ai didn’t seem to have any more information than I did.

* * *

The end of the hallway revealed an opening to a strange, spacious area. The walls were a dark shade of purple, decorated by a winding string of multicolored miniature lantern lights. There was no natural sunlight in the room, leading me to wonder if there were any windows in this confusing environment at all. Strangely, the interior of the area was shaped like a hexagon; There were six open thresholds, including the one that Ruri, Ai and I had just exited, though with the length of the hallways, it was hard to tell where these entries led to. The rest of the room was featureless— save for a large looming alabaster statue, garish among the environment. Taking a closer look at the statue wasn’t necessary, due to its large size; A tall ionic column, topped by a figure of what looked like a strange cartoon bat surrounded by eggs with inhuman legs.

“Pretty ugly, ain’t it?”

I was rudely brought out of my observations by a strong hand clapping onto my shoulder. A look at the offender revealed a boy with bright orange-red unkempt hair topped by a black cap. His messy appearance was further solidified by the worn-looking denim vest covering a checkered shirt, and the even more-worn looking blue jeans, the legs spotted with holes of torn fabric that weren’t even patched. He grinned at me and pulled away, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

“The name’s Akio Fujita: ultimate green thumb! ...Er, gardener I guess is the official name. Pleased to meet ‘cha!”

“Junichi Sasaki, ultimate journalist. And… likewise,” I said, offering a smile.

“Weird thing is,” Akio said, looking back up at the statue, “I get the feeling that statue is important somehow. Might be a clue of some sort.”

_Gee, you think so?_

“Maybe,” I responded, “But I don’t think we’ll know for sure until we investigate all of the different areas. Or all the different people.”

Thankfully, I could hear the loud chattering of two others, which was an excellent segue into leaving the conversation with Akio.

“Speaking of which,” I said in a polite attempt to back out, and headed towards the two.

“H-hey, wait! I didn’t get to ask you stuff!”

I pretended not to hear him.

As I stepped around the statue, the others who were talking came into view; The first, a girl with platinum-blonde hair, wearing a pair of track pants and a loose white crop-top, who was eagerly going on a tangent about something-or-other. The second, a boy with medium-length hair and bangs that covered one of his eyes, wearing a surgical mask and sterile gloves that peeked out from beneath a baggy green sweater. Carefully, I listened in to their conversation.

“...And it totally blew my mind! I mean, can you imagine having an arm that shoots rockets? He was all like _pew, pew, blam!”_

As she spoke, the girl held her arm out and braced it with her free hand, imitating the motions of what must have been an arm that shot rockets. The boy next to her carefully stepped out of the way of her rapid movements, wearing an expression similar to that of a deer in headlights.

“That sounds, um, really cool!” The boy spoke with clear nervousness in his voice.

“I know, right?! So long story short, I just had to buy all of the merchandise with him on it. Even a poseable figure! But I you know, since I have all of his stuff, maybe I should complete the series and buy everything else? I don’t want my boy to be lonely!”

I cleared my throat, hoping to get their attention. It took several attempts, though, as the girl kept talking. Eventually, my noises must have gotten loud enough, as the boy turned to look at me, the same startled expression on his face.

“You’re not sick, are you?” He asked, then quickly rifled through the back pockets of his khaki pants and pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

“Yeah, uh, no,” I said, carefully pushing the bottle away, “I was just trying to interject. You two are also students of Hope’s Peak Academy… right?”

“Well duh, everyone here is,” The girl said, tilting her head as she looked at me. “I’m Emiko Isshiki, the ultimate collector! But you can call me Emi, KoKo, or just plain Emiko!”

Emiko smiled brightly, and gestured to the boy beside her; “This guy is Yuuto Onodera, and he’s the ultimate clean freak!”

“Uh… hi,” Yuuto responded feebly.

“Junichi Sasaki, ultimate journalist,” I greeted.

I looked between the two of them, processing the information I’d just been given. Something must have been showing in my expression, as Emiko raised an eyebrow at me.

“What’s with the sour face?”

“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head to clear my thoughts, “Just surprised that you two would be talking to each other. Your talents seem like polar opposites.”

“Hey, just because we have different skills doesn’t mean that we can’t be friends!” Emiko said defensively, then pulled Yuuto over by the shoulders, causing him to let out a small ‘eep’ sound.

“Right,” I said dryly, looking back at Yuuto, who seemed about ready to bolt out of the room, only tethered by who-knew-what-reason.

Emiko looked at me assessingly. I looked right back at her. Finally, she spoke:

“You’re kind of an asshole, aren’t you?”

My expression fell flat, and I walked away.

With a limited variety of other areas to explore, I pondered my options. The rest of the students here were an eccentric bunch, and if the information I’d gathered so far was any indicator, there were yet more students to be met. The thought was mildly unpleasant; Everyone that I had met thus far seemed to be complacent in the situation we found ourselves in, unconcerned for what may happen next or where we were. There were no investigations to be held by the others, and I suspected that if nobody else had already done so, I would need to be the one to take initiative and establish a leadership position. The fact of the matter was that nobody seemed to know what was going on; Naturally, they’d need someone resilient and bold to uphold a sense of order, and if I didn’t fit the bill, then I had no idea who else would be more qualified.

That being said, I needed to find the rest of the students who had been trapped in this strange, near-lifeless building.

With a new level of resolve and motivation to truly be the journalist that I was born to be— clever, charming, and most importantly, knowledgeable— I stepped out of the main room and towards one of the hallways to continue my exploration.

I wanted answers.

* * *

As I left the main hub, down one of the corridors, the smell of sugar and dough began to filter through the air. The lights above the hallways illuminated the pathway, and shortly enough, I found myself in a room that resembled some combination of a school cafeteria and a pop-art cafe. The wallpaper in the room was a vibrant orange with a white floral pattern, all of the tables were made of mahogany, and the floor was covered in stylish white marble tiling. There was a kitchenette with an array of appliances, a small counter decorated with plants, and a side table with a stack of magazines. The entire area gave off a ‘casual’ vibe, almost to an eerie extent, as though someone was trying too hard to make the environment feel friendly. And, of course, there were no windows. Several people were already seated in the room: Behind the counter in the kitchenette, a somewhat hefty-looking girl with bright green hair who wore a pair of pink pajamas, moving around in a controlled pattern; Probably the source of the sweet scents, judging by the in-use appliances. At one of the tables, two boys— one with wild blonde hair with a green sweatband, wearing a ridiculously mismatched outfit, the other with a knit winter hat and ridiculously torn clothing. Both were playing some sort of card game at the table, which caught my interest. Setting aside the curiosity in the kitchen, I approached the two boys at the table.

“Let’s see…” The boy with the headband spoke in a dramatically mystic voice, “You’ve got Judgment in reverse, which generally means a lack of self-awareness, or perhaps self-doubt… Hierophant in reverse, which can allude to a subversion of expectations or a new approach, and…” The boy with the headband squinted, examining the last card and ‘aha’-ing at it. “Fool in reverse, which signifies being taken advantage of.” The boy grinned then, and said cheerfully, “Man, you have some pretty bad luck today!”

“Huh?!” The boy in the knit hat exclaimed, looking mildly alarmed, “But the cards are all facing me. Doesn’t that mean they’re right-side up? Come on man, I need good news today!”

“That’s not really how it works,” The boy in the headband tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully, then added, “But whatever, I can always try again! Let’s just consider this a test run, alright?”

“Siiiiick.”

At that moment, the boy with the headband glanced up to me, and waved.

“Hey! You just woke up, right? Get over here! Let’s start the day off right with a fortune telling!”

I held my hands up in an attempt to deflect.

“No thank you, I’m not really interested in that sort of thing.”

“Bummer. Oh well,” The boy said, undisturbed by my rejection.

I watched as the boy shuffled the deck of cards, and tried to think of a decent way to strike up a conversation. The two at the table were clearly something else.

“So… Can I ask about your ultimate talents?”

“Ah huh?” The boy with the headband looked at me, almost crosseyed. “Oh! Sure! My name’s Tetsuo Isayama, and I’m the ultimate medium!”

Tetsuo gestured to the object hanging from his shirt’s chain— upon closer inspection, it was a planchette. I frowned.

“You don’t… seriously use a ouija board for that sort of thing, do you?”

“Pffft, of course not,” Tetsuo said, rolling his eyes like it was obvious. “This is just for funsies. I actually have visions of spirits in my sleep!” His expression turned sheepish then. “But I kinda have trouble channeling them at will. Still, it’s pretty cool that I got into Hope’s Peak Academy, isn’t it?”

“And yet, we’re not there,” I muttered to myself, then turned to the other boy. “And you are...?”

The boy blinked up at me for several seconds, like he hadn’t registered my question. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he nearly jumped out of his seat.

“Sorry man, didn’t see you there.” He scratched the back of his neck, and chuckled. “I’m Yuuya Tsubasa. Ultimate pilot. As in, I’m the best one out there, and it’s also my official title.”

“I see,” I answered, feeling a bit put-off by their relaxed expressions.

_Doesn’t anyone in this place feel worried about waking up not knowing where they are?!_

“And who’s the girl baking back there?” I asked, pointing a thumb behind me.

“Oh,” Tetsuo shrugged, looking at her, “I don’t really know. I just came here because it smelled good. I tried to talk to her, but she said we weren’t allowed to taste anything until it was done. Something like… displayed graduation? I’m not really sure what that meant though.”

“Delayed gratification, you mean?”

“Yeah, that!”

_Good god, this room is going to be insufferable._

I glanced behind me, fortunate enough to see that the girl behind the counter seemed to be done doing whatever she was doing for the time being, leaning against the refrigerator and sighing. As tempted as I was to mirror the sentiment, I put on a winning smile and walked toward her.

“If you’re trying to get a taste of the cookie batter, you’re too late. I already cleaned the mixing bowl and utensils,” She said firmly, with a smug smile on her face.

“I wasn’t really interested in that,” I said, glancing away. “I was hoping to introduce myself. I’m Junichi Sasaki, ultimate journalist. Would you happen to be the ultimate chef?”

The girl looked away, and the smug smile fell off her face, replaced by a self-conscious frown.

“No, I’m… really only good for baking, actually. I’m Chikako Ueda, the ultimate baker.”

“I see,” I nodded, glancing at her headband. It had a small plastic muffin on it, which I supposed I should have picked up on earlier. “What kind of cookies are you baking?”

“Just some sugar cookies,” Chikako answered, cheering up a bit. “I wanted to make snickerdoodles, but I don’t see any cinnamon in the storage shelves back here.” She tapped her foot lightly. “I don’t really know how I got here, so I’m a little nervous, but baking always helps calm me down.”

“A little nervous?” I asked, though internally I was relieved that there was at least one other person taking this situation seriously, if only somewhat.

“I don’t want to worry myself any more than I have to,” Chikako said, nodding to herself. “For all I know, I could be dreaming right now.”

“This is a pretty strange dream then,” I muttered, mostly to myself.

“I heard that, you know.”

With a grimace, I glanced at Tetsuo and Yuuya, who were focused intently on the deck of tarot cards that Tetsuo had brought, then back to Chikako, who was looking at me sternly.

“Excuse me.”

I had to leave the room before I got a migraine.

* * *

After returning to the hexagonal central hub, I decided to walk along the walls. Next to what I would officially deem the Cafe, there was a single opening that led to an extended hallway, though the room was dark. I was tempted to explore it, but before I could step forward, a nagging sensation in the back of my mind warned me that I shouldn’t proceed. I’d always had good intuition when it came to dangerous situations— part of my survival tactics as a journalist— and this time was no different than any other. I’d have to investigate that particular area later.

Instead, I continued my path, entering the next hallway and arriving at a room with light yellow walls and a set of kitschy, mismatched furniture; Lounge chairs, coffee tables, a small television, paintings of flowers hung upon the walls, and a small bookshelf with a lamp atop it in the corner. No piece of furniture was exactly the same color, and each one was thoroughly saturated. It was somehow less of an eyesore than one would expect, but it still made me frown. A little too kitschy, perhaps.

Seated on one of the lounge chairs was a girl who wore a bright pink and black outfit, impatiently tapping on the screen of a tablet similar to the one I had discovered in my own room, occasionally frowning at it and sighing as she glanced around the room. Across from her sat a boy with wildly styled dark hair and a tacky blue tiger-print shirt (with an even tackier blue and orange belt). The boy was looking at her intently, settling his chin on a closed hand and trying to strike up a conversation.

_Great, there’s a flirt here. At least the girl seems distracted._

Said girl glanced up at me from her spot on the lounge chair, and quickly got up.

“Hey, do you know how to get this thing working?”

I shook my head, and said, “Unfortunately not. I had one in my bedroom, but all I could do was turn it on and off.”

The girl frowned, and looked at the tablet in her hands morosely.

“Damn, and here I was hoping someone could help. I’ve been trying for like, the last half hour!” She sighed, and looked at me with a worried smile. “Um… you don’t happen to know anyone who could help, do you?”

“Not really.” I said, looking at the girl.

“Oh, ugh! I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself! But then again, you probably already know me, right? Unless you’re one of those people who doesn’t use social media or anything…”

I clasped my hands behind my back.

“Sorry, I don’t think I do. I wouldn’t mind if you told me a bit more about yourself though.”

The girl practically beamed at me, smiling widely and holding up a peace sign with the hand that wasn’t holding the tablet.

“Miyu Wada, ultimate social media star! If there’s any website you can think of, you can be guaranteed I’m on it!”

“Of course, there are always like, a million impersonators out there,” Miyu continued, smiling coyly, “But I’m the real deal, you know?”

“Sure?” I said, unsure. “Junichi Sasaki, ultimate journalist.”

A huff of laughter came from the boy sitting on the lounge chair next to where Miyu had been. I glanced at him, only to see him smirking at me.

“Is there a problem?” I asked calmly.

“Nothing, nothing,” The boy waved me off, “Just hoping you’re not one of the gross paparazzi reporters that get their kicks from invading peoples’ privacy.”

“I can assure you, I’m not,” I responded, somewhat less calm. “My reports are legitimate.”

“Whatever, I believe you.” The boy stood up and approached me, offering his hand. “The name’s Fumio Inoue, but you’ll probably recognize me as the ultimate actor.”

I shook his hand, only somewhat surprised to feel him practically crush it. I must have interrupted his poor attempts to flirt with the completely disinterested Miyu, based on the way his smile didn’t reach his eyes. I didn’t let a smile reach mine either. Instead, I mentally counted out the people I had met up until now. Ten of us, all trapped in this mysterious building.

“Hey, guys! More people are awake!” Came a familiar voice from the hallway. Upon hearing it, Miyu’s eyes lit up as Ruri entered the room.

“Neat! Is that everyone?” She asked, which made Fumio and I exchange glances.

“What do you mean everyone?” I asked in turn.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Miyu turned to me, “There are fifteen of us here, including me, obviously. There are like… three different hallways with five rooms each in them. I woke up in the blue hallway, but I was the first to wake up so I was super bored.”

“And I woke up in the red hallway. I ended up meeting what’s-his-face with the weird hair and trashy outfit there,” Fumio announced.

“Well then,” I said, shifting attention to Ruri, “Let’s go meet them, shall we?”

“Follow me!” Ruri said excitedly, bouncing on her heels as she skipped away.

“Hey, wait up!” Miyu called out, chasing after Ruri.

“...”

I looked at Fumio, who was oddly silent.

“You’re not going to chase after her?” I said, only half-sarcastic.

“Nah, I guess she’s not really worth my time. Vapid girls like that are a total turn-off, anyway.”

 _What a charmer,_ I thought to myself, but kept my mouth shut.

It wasn’t worth it to press an issue when there were still questions unanswered.

* * *

While I was curious to see what the other rooms were like, I was much less excited to meet the other students. Not only was I hesitant to socialize with anyone who ran the risk of being as eccentric as the others, I had a dangerous inkling that as soon as everyone had woken up and gotten acquainted with each other, something awful was going to happen. But I had no other choice than to proceed, and as someone with a natural propensity for sticking his nose into others’ business, I knew I couldn’t avoid the idea forever. And so, I followed Ruri, Miyu, and Fumio out of the lounge area, back to the central hub, and back into the ugly green hallway leading to my bedroom, among the others. Leaning against one door was a girl whose most noticeable features included a semi-scandalous outfit decorated and held together with straps, and a scar on her cheek. The other was a boy with a colorful outfit decorated with badges, holding a peach-colored bag at his side and sporting a ponytail that seemed to defy gravity. The two were also represented by little pixelated versions of themselves hanging on their respective bedroom doors.

There was something about the boy that made me feel uncomfortable. Perhaps it was his blank expression, or the way he held his posture, but he seemed like someone who I’d find myself contesting with. The girl, however, seemed incredibly standoffish, based on the way she frowned and crossed her arms as she leaned against her door, almost guarded. Decisions, decisions.

The decision was made for me shortly after, as Fumio seemed to glare at the boy with the ponytail.

_Let’s get this over with._

I approached the boy, trying to study the badges on his shirt. There seemed to be some sort of crest, what looked like a rose, and a half-red half-yellow split. Nothing informative.

“If you wanted to know what they meant, you could ask,” The boy said neutrally.

“So then what do they mean?” I asked.

“This one is from the Japan Institute of Architects,” He said, pointing to the badge with the crest, “And these two… don’t mean anything. I just have them because they look nice.”

I leveled him with a flat stare. He didn’t even bother to return it.

“So you’re the ultimate architect, I take it?” I asked.

“That’s correct,” He nodded, adjusting the strap on his bag. “Daisuke Godai. Let’s get along.”

Despite the slight snub, I offered my hand for him to shake.

“Junichi Sasaki, ultimate journalist. And… yes, let’s.” In an effort to defuse the awkward tension in the air after we withdrew our hands, I gestured to the girl with the scar on her cheek. “You wouldn’t happen to know who she is, would you?”

“I don’t. She hasn’t said a word since we left our rooms at the same time. I offered to look around the area with her, but she doesn’t seem to be budging.”

Daisuke and I turned our heads toward the girl, who was being enthusiastically pestered by Ruri and Miyu, and side-eyed by Fumio.

“Hey, come on, we can’t be friends if we don’t get to know each other!” Ruri exclaimed in an effort to motivate the mystery woman to speak.

“...”

Unsuccessful.

“Hey, can we talk about how cool that scar is?” Miyu prodded.

“Come on you two, leave the lady alone,” Fumio said, raising an eyebrow at the two.

Throughout the exchange, it was evident that the girl was losing patience; If not overtly, then in the smaller details, such as how her hands tightened around her arms, her shoulders tensed, and her breathing stuttered.

“If I talk, will you leave me be?”

Her voice was formal, structured, empty. I briefly considered her, hoping to find some evidence of personality, and found none. A book closed tightly shut, apparently. At the very least, she seemed as though she’d be easier to converse with than the others… if she even had any inclination to converse with me at all.

“You may call me Hiroe Kobayashi. As for what I am known as… I suppose my status should be called the ultimate sharpshooter.”

“You mean you work with guns?” Fumio asked, more genuinely curious than I expected of him.

“That is what a sharpshooter’s profession typically entails, yes,” Hiroe answered. “Though I have experience with many types of firearms and weapons, including bows and arrows, throwing knives, and axes.”

Fumio whistled, apparently impressed.

“So then,” Ruri asked a bit nervously, “Does that mean your room is full of guns and stuff?”

Hiroe sighed, but said nothing more.

“We should probably leave her alone,” Daisuke cut in, before I had the chance to say the same. “Bothering her benefits nobody, and we have other priorities to attend to.”

“Agreed,” I said, and moved forward.

* * *

The last remaining students to be discovered were seated in the blue hall. Somewhere along the way, Fumio and Ruri had wandered off, leaving only Daisuke, Miyu, and myself to explore the area. The sight that greeted us was worrisome; Pacing across the navy corridor was a girl wearing a dress that resembled a bunch of brightly-colored Lego bricks, muttering to herself in a language that I could only pick up bits and pieces of. And on the floor, covered by an oil-stained labcoat, was another girl with a light gray side-buzzcut— lying deathly still.

Carefully, I approached the girl on the floor, and after a moment of deliberation, nudged her side with my foot. Suddenly, the girl let out a loud snort and shivered, causing the other girl to snicker.

“Nice going, genius. Did you think she was dead?”

“In a place like this? Who knows,” I answered.

“A place like this, huh? So does that mean you have a clue of what’s going on? Care to share with the class?”

“I never said that,” I bristled.

The girl scoffed. “It figures.”

“Who are you?” I asked with a frown.

“Lucidia Layton, ultimate linguist,” She responded curtly. “And you would be…?”

“Junichi Sasaki,” I responded, drumming my fingers against my thigh. “Ultimate journalist.”

“Ah, so you and I could be cut from similar thread. You probably travel a lot, don’t you?” Lucidia said in a humming voice.

“You could say that, yes, but I haven’t gone out of the country much.”

Lucidia smirked.

“Uncultured.”

“Wow,” Miyu mock-whispered towards me, “Someone’s a mega-bitch today.”

“Let’s not get into arguments just yet,” Daisuke cut in, and shifted his gaze to the girl on the floor. “We still need to wake this one up.”

“Allow me,” Lucidia said with a bow, and carefully leaned down to the sleeping girl.

_“¡Despiértate!”_

Lucidia’s shout made the other girl jolt awake with a gasp, floundering around on the ground as she tried to gain awareness of her surroundings. After taking a moment to recover her senses, she looked around at the four of us with wide eyes, and asked, “Who are you people?!”

“Yet another amnesiac,” Lucidia muttered to herself.

“We’re all students of Hope’s Peak Academy,” Daisuke explained, once again beating me to the point. “What happened to you? Are you alright?”

“Whuh… oh, y-yeah, I’m fine,” The girl yawned, and blinked rapidly. “I just tend to fall asleep at random intervals. I’m kind of a night owl, you know?” She then stood up and brushed imaginary dust off of her labcoat, only succeeding in smearing some non-imaginary oil on her hand. She smiled sheepishly, and wiped it on a clean part of her coat, further dirtying it.

“I’m Shiori Noguchi, and I’m the ultimate roboticist. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I suppose that makes all fifteen of us, based on what Miyu said,” Daisuke wondered out loud.

“Fifteen?” Shiori asked, tilting her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“There are fifteen bedrooms in this weird place,” Miyu explained, “Meaning there are fifteen students from Hope’s Peak Academy in here. I think we all woke up now.”

“Interesting…” Shiori said, looking down at the floor with a troubled expression. “I don’t suppose any of you happen to know where we are?”

“Unfortunately not,” I answered, feeling equally troubled.

“Geez, what’s with this? I can’t remember anything past last night, and now everyone else is forgetting stuff too?” Lucidia huffed.

“Last night?” I asked, feeling dread begin to build in my stomach, “I can’t remember anything past last night either.”

Lucidia regarded me with some curiosity; “Interesting.”

Before we could discuss the issue further, a high-pitched scream rang throughout the building, loud enough to pierce through the long hallway. Spurred into action, I ran through the hall, trying to find the source of the scream. It didn’t take long; Sitting on the floor, practically scrambling away in fear, was Akio. His gaze was fixated on the statue in the center of the room, and his sun-tanned skin had turned a deathly pale shade. Soon after the scream had ended, the rest of the others began to filter into the room, some in a hurry, some not.

“What’s going on in here?” Tetsuo asked, looking around rapidly.

“The… the statue… it moved!” Akio wheezed shakily, pointing to the offending object. All gazes trained themselves onto the statue, mine included. There were several seconds of silence, until,

“So are you delusional or what?” Fumio asked, gratefully sparing the rest of us from asking.

“No way! I’m being serious! That thing moved! The figures at the top were wobbling like they were gonna fall!” Akio insisted.

I held my hands up in a reassuring gesture, slowly approaching Akio like one would a frightened animal; “Maybe you just need to rest a bit, Akio. Statues don’t move.”

“You’re damn skippy they don’t move— but they sure as hell can break!”

The squeaky, tinny voice that echoed in the room was unfamiliar; At that moment, I could feel my heart drop into my stomach. The rest of the students in the room all looked at each other, unsure of where else but the statue the voice could have come from. It was no use; The source of the noise was undoubtedly coming from above the center of the room.

With horror, the fifteen of us watched as the figures in the statue slowly wobbled, spun… and shattered into pieces. Several yelps were let out as shards of alabaster rained down, but I could only watch in mute horror as six figures emerged from the remains. Each figure was eerily similar to those featured in the statue, but the difference was clear: Whereas before it had been a static object, unmoving and unspeaking, it was now six different animated figures, each moving about freely and with purpose. The once almost-warm lantern lights then seemed less welcoming and more sinister, as the room was soon to be plunged into chaos that I hadn’t anticipated— Not even in my wildest, vilest nightmares.

“Welcome, dear kiddies, to your new home for the rest of your short, pathetic lives!”


	3. Character Profiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Includes information about each student-- Comment with the current storyline chapter number and up to two characters whose FTEs you want to complete!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CURRENT STORYLINE CHAPTER: 1

**AI KUROSAWA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: October 1st  
Likes: Peace and quiet  
Dislikes: TV sitcoms  
Notes: Ultimate Comic Artist

* * *

**AKIO FUJITA** (★☆☆)  
D.O.B: December 19th  
Likes: Trading Card Games  
Dislikes: Darkness  
Notes: Ultimate Gardener

**CHIKAKO UEDA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: June 21st  
Likes: Scented candles  
Dislikes: Late nights  
Notes: Ultimate Baker

* * *

**DAISUKE GODAI** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: March 15th  
Likes: Nature walks  
Dislikes: Confrontation  
Notes: Ultimate Architect

* * *

**EMIKO ISSHIKI** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: November 15th  
Likes: Manga  
Dislikes: Gacha machines  
Notes: Ultimate Collector

* * *

**FUMIO INOUE** (★☆☆)  
D.O.B: August 11th  
Likes: Racing  
Dislikes: Promotional marketing  
Notes: Ultimate Actor

**HIROE KOBAYASHI** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: May 10th  
Likes: Solitude  
Dislikes: Crowds  
Notes: Ultimate Sharpshooter

* * *

**LUCIDIA LAYTON** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: June 27th  
Likes: Foreign films  
Dislikes: Fashion shows  
Notes: Ultimate Linguist

* * *

**MIYU WADA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: February 14th  
Likes: Memes  
Dislikes: Silence  
Notes: Ultimate Social Media Star

* * *

**RURI HATTORI** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: April 10th  
Likes: Big animals  
Dislikes: Swimming  
Notes: Ultimate Ringmaster

* * *

**SHIORI NOGUCHI** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: January 7th  
Likes: Warm things  
Dislikes: Hospitals  
Notes: Ultimate Roboticist

* * *

**TETSUO ISAYAMA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: September 5th  
Likes: Puzzles  
Dislikes: Loud noises  
Notes: Ultimate Medium

* * *

**YUUTO ONODERA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: August 26th  
Likes: Scientific journals  
Dislikes: Blood  
Notes: Ultimate Clean Freak

* * *

**YUUYA TSUBASA** (☆☆☆)  
D.O.B: April 20th  
Likes: Snack foods  
Dislikes: Heavy metal music  
Notes: Ultimate Pilot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to comment with the chapter storyline number and who you want to spend FTEs with!


	4. Ch.1, Daily Life (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I grit my teeth; I had known from the beginning that there was something sinister lurking in the shadows of this prison of ours, and now the other shoe had finally dropped. Once again, my vision blurred, almost in agony. The more that time passed, the more I became certain that this was no illusion— This was a new reality, one that nobody was prepared for, not even myself.
> 
> “Don’t…” Ruri spoke quietly, then shouted, “Don’t be ridiculous! Who of us would murder anyone?!”

Everyone in the room stood deathly still, each of us trying to process the incredible scene that was laid out before us. A talking creature wearing the facade of a bat, and five eggs, each with disturbingly intent eyes peering through cracks. The bat-creature surveyed us all, its expression completely unchanging from the creepy grin it wore, not even blinking. I couldn’t move a muscle, save for the uncontrollable twitch in my eye. Just what the hell was happening?!

Before I could even begin to try to solve the conundrum in front of me, one of the eggs— the half-yellow one— jumped on its twiggy, hairy legs, and waddled towards the pillar it had fallen from, attracting the attention of the bat.

“Mommy! I think we scared ‘em good!”

The bat tilted its— or, her?— head, and flapped her wings, gliding down to the floor. After coming down from the pillar, it seemed somewhat less intimidating, only approximately as tall as my calves, no higher than a moderately built dog. The bat caressed the white and yellow cracked egg, and cooed,

“Oh, my sweet little yolky angel… You’re so darn cute I could just squeeze you until the rest of you cracks!”

“I want Mommy to crack me too!” The white-and-purple egg spoke up, and waddled towards its mother quickly.

“Mommy, mommy!” The other eggs cheered, all wandering towards the bat. Without warning, the bat stretched one of her wings and swiped at the eggs, knocking them all over in one fell swoop and causing them to scramble away into unknown corners.

“Oh darling children of mine… learn to behave every once in a while, ya damn brats!”

The mood in the room had, at that point, drastically shifted to one of confusion. I looked at the eggs, almost certain that I must have been hallucinating them. That was the only rational explanation for whatever was going on in this godforsaken building.

“Well, now that that’s over with, I suppose I should introduce myself!” The bat spoke cheerfully in a tinny, feminine voice. “My name is Monokoumori, your adorable, endearing, and positively sensual headmaster for this semester!” A pause, and then as an afterthought, “And those five little runts are my kids.”

“...Um,” Came the confused voice of Tetsuo.

“Wow, tough crowd,” Monokoumori said, seemingly dejected. “Here I am, giving all of you a warm welcome and a spectacle to boot, and what do I get? Nothing! Zip! Nada! It’d be enough to make me cry… if robots could cry, anyway.”

“You’re… a robot?” Shiori asked hesitantly.

“Obviously. What, do you think bats walk and talk in real life?” Monokoumori shuffled her mechanical feet, and added, “But I can guarantee you all, my fur is silky soft to the touch! Go ahead and feel it if you like, but be sure to take me to dinner first! Then again, I can’t eat. So I guess I’m destined to stay single forever…”

“This is beyond weird,” Fumio said with audible agitation. “This is just insanity. We’ve all lost our minds.”

“Oh?” Monokoumori flew towards Fumio, who was struggling to keep his composure, “Well then, if you’re all insane, that will make my job much easier!”

“Your job?” Lucidia spoke up, “And what kind of job does a mechanical bat have?”

“Don’t you youngsters listen? I’m your headmaster!” Monokoumori huffed indignantly. “I’m going to be presiding over you kiddos for the rest of this semester! You can consider me to be a supervisor, if you like.”

“Wait, wait,” I said, backtracking with annoyance, “What do you mean ‘this semester’? We’re not in school.”

“That’s what you think, buster!” Monokoumori turned toward me and let out what might have been a giggle. “In case you didn’t notice, all of your rooms are specially tailored to match your ultimate talents! Learning how to adapt to new environments with the skills you’ve acquired throughout your young lives is perfect preparation for the reality of the future!”

“So you’re the one responsible for making my dorm room look so tacky,” I said.

“Such an ungrateful student! You kids are lucky that the school rules forbid me to directly harm you all, or else you’d be in for a sharp lashing!” Monokoumori folded her wings in what might have looked like hands on hips if she were a human. “Fortunately, I love all of you too much to be the one to facilitate your demise.”

“D-demise?” Yuuto spoke nervously, blue eyes widening in fear.

“Whoops! It looks like I forgot to tell you all the most important part of your lives here!” Monokoumori said, and flew back up to the top of the pillar. “You see, this little school you’re in isn’t just any school. Students these days are so lazy, especially the ones at Hope’s Peak Academy! You all think you can get away with skipping classes and doing whatever you want willy-nilly. And so, as your instructor, I’ve established a little rule. None of you students are allowed to leave this building… ever.”

A tense silence fell over the room like fog. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck raising, a sudden chill falling over me as I registered what exactly the robotic bat had said.

“So then…” I started, feeling the words almost catching in my throat, “We’re trapped here indefinitely.”

“Hm? Who said anything about indefinitely?” Monokoumori tilted her head curiously. “There’s a real easy way for you kids to get out, you know!”

“Are you inclined to tell us what it is? Or will we have to assume for ourselves?” Ai asked, her voice characteristically firm.

Monokoumori cackled, spreading her wings to full width.

“The solution is simple! Drumroll please! In order to leave this school of yours, all you have to do is graduate. And to do that, you simply need to… murder one of your classmates!”

I grit my teeth; I had known from the beginning that there was something sinister lurking in the shadows of this prison of ours, and now the other shoe had finally dropped. Once again, my vision blurred, almost in agony. The more that time passed, the more I became certain that this was no illusion— This was a new reality, one that nobody was prepared for, not even myself.

“Don’t…” Ruri spoke quietly, then shouted, “Don’t be ridiculous! Who of us would murder anyone?!”

Monokoumori cackled again, flying down to meet Ruri, and said in a saccharine voice, “You poor, innocent soul. Don’t you know what cabin fever does to people? Being trapped in such a small area, only being able to see the same people day after day? Sooner or later, you’ll all want to get out of this school. And then, the prospect of murder will start to look pretty dang appealing!”

“This is so whacked out,” Yuuya said shakily. “This is really freakin’ whacked out, dude.”

_Stop standing around doing nothing, Junichi. You said you’d take a leadership role, now do it!_

Steeling my resolve, I confidently approached Monokoumori and leveled her with my strongest and most intimidating glare that I could.

“And what makes you think we’ll believe a little toy like you? There’s got to be a way out of here, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to get in here in the first place. Stop lying to us with cheap scare tactics.”

Monokoumori flapped her wings excitedly (or so I assumed).

“Oh, we have a bold one here! Well, you’re more than welcome to think I’m using ‘cheap scare tactics’, if that’s what helps you sleep at night. Just know that there’s not a single one of you who’s safe. Not even the one who put you here.”

A pause.

“The one who put us here?” I said in disbelief.

“Oopsie! Did I accidentally let something slip?” Monokoumori fussed with mock-shyness, “My mistake! Well, I guess I have nothing else to do here than to shamefully disappear. And of course, if any of you students should need anything, just call for me! I look forward to seeing what kind of thrills, chills, and kills you brilliant minds come up with!”

And then, somehow, with a flap of her wings, Monokoumori spun, and vanished into thin air.

“Um… what… just happened?” Emiko spoke, the first of us to say anything after an extended pause. “There’s no way this is real, right?”

“Appearances lead us to believe it’s real enough,” Hiroe answered.

“From this point on, it looks like we have to trust our intuition to get out of here,” Daisuke said in a voice that was far too reasonable for my liking. “We can’t start letting that thing intimidate us when there’s no proof to back up the claims.”

“S-so… does that mean we need to look for some sort of exit?” Chikako said, her voice wavering

“That would be the most reasonable action,” Daisuke nodded.

Putting my best effort forward, I didn’t dare let myself look in Daisuke’s direction. Apparently, the role of team leader was going to be a competitive position.

“I suggest that we start investigating as soon as possible,” I interjected loudly. “Assuming that we all woke up around morning, despite there being no windows to gauge daylight, we can each investigate the area further, and meet together for lunch.” I paused, and added, “Does anyone happen to have a watch or anything that we can use to keep track of time?”

As if on cue, a loud, repeated buzzing sound permeated the room. Everyone in the room looked confused, save for Miyu, who was holding the tablet she’d been fidgeting with since I had been introduced. She quickly pushed the power button on the tablet— The apparent source of the sound.

“Oh my god,” Miyu exclaimed, “This weird tablet thingy is finally working!”

_Oh, I had almost forgotten about that._

At the sound of Miyu’s exclamation, everyone crowded around her, each of us trying to get a peek at her screen. From the brief glimpse I saw, a small loading bar was on display, slowly reaching its goal..

“Oh man,” Miyu sighed happily, “I can’t wait to see what’s new on instagraph.” She then glanced at Chikako, and grinned. “Is it okay if I take a picture of your sugar cookies to post?”

Chikako looked away sheepishly; “Does the tablet have a camera?”

Miyu glanced back, and deflated a bit. “No… I don’t think so.” Her expression further fell when, instead of an app-filled home screen, the display was set to what looked like a profile for a video game character. Carefully, she set the tablet down, allowing the rest of us to get a better view as she read aloud.

* * *

**MONOPAD VERSION 1.0**

**Owner: MIYU WADA [Ultimate Social Media Star]**

**Welcome to your new and improved campus! The following is a summary of class rules to help aid you in your studies. Failure to comply with these rules will result in drastic consequences!**

**RULE #1**  
**Always keep your monopad on your person. This serves as an information and entertainment database, and may only be used for educational purposes.**

**RULE #2**  
**Violence against the headmaster is strictly prohibited, and will result in immediate expulsion. However, feel free to kick the headmaster’s children as often as you please.**

**RULE #3**  
**The headmaster may not directly interfere with the wellbeing of her students.**

**RULE #4**  
**Curfew is from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM. During curfew, some areas of the building may be restricted to enter, such as the elevator room, and entry can only allowed by special permission from the headmaster. Setting foot inside these areas without permission will also result in immediate expulsion.**

**RULE #5**  
**Additional rules for the safety of students may be added at the headmaster’s discretion.**

* * *

Miyu frowned, puzzled at the rules. From the dead silence that filtered through the room, it was clear that the sentiment was shared. Even after taking a look at the screen by myself, it didn’t seem as though there were any hints to the situation we found ourselves in; Only shallow instructions that could be loosely interpreted, at best. Hesitantly, the crowd dispersed, a gloomy atmosphere surrounding us all. Miyu sighed, and shut the monopad off.

“So, what now?” Fumio asked, glancing between Daisuke and I. After several moments of contemplation, one person spoke out, beating me to the point.

“I think we should split into groups of three and explore the areas,” Daisuke answered. “It’d be an efficient use of time, considering there are five areas for us all to explore and we’ll be able to split up evenly.”

“Five?” I questioned.

“Yes, five,” Daisuke said. “Rule number four mentioned an elevator room. None of the areas we’ve explored had an elevator in them, so it can be safe to assume that all of the areas thus far are safe... “ He glanced around the central hub in the direction of the darkened hallway, the one that I couldn’t bring myself to enter earlier. “But the one hallway in particular seems risky. That being said, it’d make sense to see what else we can find.”

I huffed, only acknowledging his words reluctantly. Maybe he was more observant than I gave him credit for, but he still grated on my nerves.

“In that case,” I started, “Let’s split up into groups, and meet each other for lunch and discussion in the cafe, say, around an hour and a half from now. Since I met Ai and Ruri first after I woke up, I think I should investigate with the two of them. Unless anyone has objections, that is.”

“No objections here,” Fumio said with a trace of amusement in his voice.

“I’ll pair up with Yuuto and Shiori!” Emiko said excitedly.

“That works for me,” Shiori nodded, and glanced at Yuuto.

“I… I guess that’s okay with me,” Yuuto said, rubbing the side of his arm, “Just… promise not to get any oil on me?”

“Ahaha…” Shiori laughed noncommittally.

“I’ll stick with Hiroe and Daisuke, since they seem the least annoying,” Lucidia said snidely.

“Miyu, Fumio, how about it?” Chikako said amicably, to which the other two nodded.

“Alright! Bro time!” Akio cheered, approaching Tetsuo and Yuuya for high-fives, which both enthusiastically returned.

Smiling triumphantly, I turned to look at Ai and Ruri, and asked, “Where should we explore?”

Ai tapped a finger to her chin, and nodded to herself; “Since the three of us know what our rooms in the green hall look like and can confer with each other as we search, I think we should investigate either the red hall or blue hall.”

“Let’s do the red hall!” Ruri said cheerfully. “I bet there’ll be some interesting stuff in everyone else’s rooms! Maybe if we have time we can meet up with everyone in the blue hall too!”

“I find that acceptable,” Ai answered, and pointedly looked at me.

I shrugged in response, and said, “Well then, let’s get started. Just give me a chance to retrieve my monopad.”

As soon as I left the central hub with Ai and Ruri in tow, I could hear vague sounds of chattering behind me, slowly disappearing as we walked down the green hallway. Ai and Ruri followed suit, entering their own rooms and retrieving their monopads as well. Quietly, we regrouped and wandered to the red hall. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by the sight of five doors, each with their own customized plate; Emiko, Yuuto, Chikako, Fumio, and Tetsuo were each displayed.

“Well, since the three of us, Daisuke, and Hiroe are all in the green hall, and these five are in the red hall, I think it’s safe to assume that Miyu, Shiori, Akio, Yuuya, and Lucidia are in the blue hall,” I said.

“Apparently so,” Ai confirmed. I made a small mental map of the area.

I glanced around the corridor, noting that aside from the doors leading to the bedrooms, there was no other method of escape. Not an air vent or secret passage entryway to be found.

“Is it safe to enter anyone else’s room without explicit consent?” Ai asked.

“I’m sure everyone else is going to be searching through our rooms, so we might as well even the playing field,” I said, grimacing slightly at the memory of my own cheaply-decorated room.

“Monokoumori said our rooms were tailored to each of our talents, right?” Ruri pondered out loud, “I mean, my room looks kind of like the inside of a circus tent. There are mechanical tigers, clown outfits, fire sticks, and even a tightrope!”

Ai hesitated, and nodded; “I suppose my room could be considered tailored to my talent as well. There are plenty of bookshelves filled with comics, several easels, a lightbox, a variety of art supplies… Somehow, I wonder how that robotic bat acquired all of them.” Ai then turned to me, and asked, “What does your room look like, Junichi?”

“Like shit.”

Ai blinked at me.

“I don’t get it.”

“Anyway,” I added, trying to steer the conversation away from my disaster of a room, “We should probably start investigating. We don’t have all day to search through these before we meet at the cafe to report on our findings.”

With our agreement in place, we decided to start investigating the rooms.

Emiko’s room was the first to be searched; However, it was nearly impossible, as the entire room was more comparable to a storage vault than a bedroom. Shelves upon shelves of figurines, binders full of trading cards, an entire walk-in closet filled with various shirts from different franchises, and an array of display cases.

“How would one even collect things in this kind of place?” I wondered as I exited the bedroom.

Next on the agenda was Yuuto’s room. I wasn’t sure what to expect upon entering the bedroom of a clean freak, but in hindsight I should have expected that the area was shining and spotless, almost sterile like a hospital room. There were cleaning supplies galore, and merely being inside the room made me feel as though I was dirty by comparison.

“I suppose cleaning products could be used to hide evidence of a killing,” Ai said curiously.

The thought made me uncomfortable, so I said nothing as we moved on.

Chikako’s room was much more home-y than Yuuto’s; The entire area was sweetly scented (possibly due to the candles littered around), with cookbooks spread all over the area, and two entire cabinets stocked with baking supplies. Despite there not being a fridge or pantry for ingredients, it was entirely possible that the room could be used as a second kitchen. The rest of the room was entirely too girly for my tastes, with pink and green alternating walls— Even the bedsheets had little cupcakes on them.

“Let’s get out of here before I get sick of all these smells.”

Fumio’s room was, out of everyone’s, the most interesting. There was a large stage in the center of it, chests full of props and backgrounds, a miniature dressing room next to the bathroom, a widescreen TV with multiple DVDs on the stand below it (some of which, I noted with humor, were ones that Fumio himself had starred in). Out of curiosity, I examined the TV, but it appeared that there was no way to change the channel, similar to how the monopads were only able to be turned on and off with a limited amount of features which we had yet to explore.

“Nothing suspicious here… I think,” Ruri said with furrowed brows.

The last room to be examined was Tetsuo’s— The worst of all of them, by far. The entire room was littered with paranormal paraphernalia, including a table with a crystal ball in the center of it all. It seemed more suited to an ultimate psychic than an ultimate medium, save for a few choice items; A bookshelf full of profiles and biographies of famous deceased people (with a heavy focus on serial killers, I noted with dismay), a kit of incense, several objects whose purpose I could only assume was for seances, and a set of fourteen wooden figures who looked eerily similar to the rest of the students trapped here... myself included.

“Damn it, this is getting us nowhere!” I said, trying (and failing) to prevent the frustration from slipping into my voice.

“Well, it’s been about an hour and a half, if my estimation is right,” Ai said calmly as she opened the door to Tetsuo’s bedroom. “We have a meeting in the cafe, and I believe it would be polite if we were to show up on time.”

* * *

It took several minutes for all of us to filter into the cafe, and when we did, we were all greeted by an unexpected sight.

A feast had been laid bare on several of the tables; There were plates stacked high with sandwiches of all sorts, platters of meats and cheeses and crackers and breads, a tray of local and exotic fruits, several canteens of soup, a cooler full of canned and bottled drinks, and a small array of finger-food desserts (the sight of which made Chikako audibly groan.)

“Who put this all here?” Fumio asked, carefully stepping forward and eyeing the cornucopia, “This isn’t poisoned, is it?”

“Rule number three: The headmaster may not directly interfere with the wellbeing of her students!”

The sudden, tinny sound echoed through the room, causing Akio to let out a high-pitched screech as Monokoumori seemingly apparated into the room and perched herself on the counter directly next to him.

“And here I had my dearest children slaving over a hot stove to feed you all,” Monokoumori said in a whining tone of voice. “You’re all a bunch of ingrates!”

“So this food isn’t poisoned?” asked Fumio.

“How could those egg things cook if they don’t have hands?” Chikako cut in.

“Wait… how does a robotic bat lay eggs?” Miyu questioned.

“Siiiiiigh,” Monokoumori enunciated (instead of actually sighing), “You kids and your questions! Tamagoro made the sandwiches, Tamagane made the snack platter, Tamagenji made the fruits and drinks, Tamagatsu made the soup, and Tamaguru made the desserts.”

_Ignoring the fact that I don’t actually know which egg is which..._

“So an egg thinks it can make a better dessert than I can…” Chikako grumbled sadly.

“Anyway,” Monokoumori fluttered her wings dramatically, “You kiddos should all be appreciative of what we’ve provided!”

I raised a skeptical eyebrow at the bat, and folded my arms across my chest.

“Just what did you provide? From the sounds of it, your weirdo children did all the work.”

Monokoumori snickered sinisterly.

“Oh, I’m not here to provide refreshments for you all. I’m here to present something much better.”

It felt like the temperature in the room dropped twenty degrees as Monokoumori clapped her wings twice, scattering slips of paper onto the counter.

“Come on, come on! Take one! I’ve even gone to the trouble of labelling them all for you!”

Tentatively, I stepped forward.

“Well, if nobody else is going to be brave enough…”

I looked through the slips of paper, eventually finding the one labeled ‘Junichi Sasaki’. With just as much hesitance, some of the others stepped forward to take their own slips of paper. Slowly, oh so slowly, I opened the folded scrap, and silently read the text printed onto it.

_Junichi Sasaki was supposed to go to America to report on foreign relations, but chickened out of the trip because he’s scared of leaving Japan._

My blood ran cold.

“What the…” I heard someone grimly speak from my side— to my surprise, it was Akio, who was wearing a dark expression on his face. “Monokoumori, what is this supposed to be?”

Monokoumori giggled, and spoke excitedly; “These little slips of paper are more commonly known as motives. You see, each of you has a dirty little secret that you’d all just hate to be released to the world. And I’ve managed to extract them from your consciousness!”

“S-so what?” Akio continued, nervously biting his thumbnail, “It’s not like you can blackmail us with that. There’s only fifteen of us here, nobody will care!”

“Is that so? Do you really and truly believe that?” Monokoumori teased mercilessly. “As I said, it’d be an awful shame if they were released to the world… and if none of you drop dead after three days in this place, these precious little problems of yours will be broadcast worldwide!”

“That’s… that’s just darn impossible!” Akio shouted angrily.

“I can assure you, it’s quite possible. If I can gather fifteen ultimate students from a prestigious and high-security academy and force them into an inescapable building to cause them endless despair, don’t you think I have that power too?”

At that, Akio shut his mouth, looking incredibly fearful.

“Well, that’s all I have to say about that,” Monokoumori finished gleefully. “Enjoy your lunch, dearest students of mine! After all, it may be your last!” And with a cackle and a flourish, Monokoumori disappeared.

For not the first time in that single day, the room was deathly silent. A horrible, churning sensation filled my body, threatening to bubble up and consume me.

Despair.

Not a single soul moved for several moments. Nobody knew what to do or say. Our plans to reveal the fruits of our investigations were most likely ruined, and a thick tension filled each of us.

Without warning, someone broke the silence.

“Well then, I guess there’s only one solution to this little conundrum.”

I turned to look behind me, and at that point, the room began to descend into madness.

Lucidia confidently strolled up to the counter where Monokoumori had left behind several papers, and swiped them from where they sat. She then made her way onto one of the tables set up with food, and climbed onto it, standing tall above the rest of us.

“In order to save us the embarrassment of having our secrets broadcast to the world and to prevent any possible murders, I’ve taken the initiative to reveal them here and now. Let’s see what we have…”

The rest of us stood there, shocked.

_“Daisuke Godai’s first building was improperly structured and collapsed, leading to several extreme injuries of its tenants. Yuuya Tsubasa paid an accomplice to forge several documents so that he could sneak into a piloting school. Ruri Hattori is severely aquaphobic, and refuses to do high dives into water. Shiori Noguchi is a—”_

Almost as if in slow motion, a catastrophe unfolded.

Hiroe marched over to the table, stood up on it, and swiftly as possible, punched Lucidia in the face.

The force of the swing was so strong that Lucidia stumbled backwards and toppled down, whacking her head against the edge of a table before collapsing onto the ground. Shiori screamed, rushing over to where Lucidia had fallen, then kneeling at her side and retrieving the piece of paper with her name on it before cradling her head.

“Oh my god, you— you knocked her out cold! She’s probably concussed!”

“It serves her right,” Hiroe said darkly. “She’ll survive. The rest of us, however, may not. The injustices she brought forward may only be a catalyst for someone’s demise, as surely Monokoumori has collected our darkest secrets hidden in the past. This is far too dangerous of a situation to find ourselves in, and it can’t be so quickly concluded that nobody here will act upon her suggestion.” Hiroe paused; “That… and Lucidia thoroughly annoys me.”

Fumio snorted, and ripped the paper in his hands to shreds.

“At least you’re honest about it.”

Akio frowned, looked at his paper, and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Luhk heww I’m gomma wet any’un shee dish.”

“That robotic menace…” Daisuke said, his composure cracking.

I couldn’t bring myself to feel anything. A sense of numbness permeated my body, causing me to struggle just to move. And when I was able to, all I could do was walk. Walk away from the cafe, walk away from the situation, walk away from my troubles. Somehow in the process, I ended up wandering towards my bedroom, with the slip of paper firmly secured in my pocket. I didn’t register my movements as I locked the door behind me, removed my shoes, set down my monopad, and stumbled into my bed. I glanced over at the typewriter sitting innocuously on the coffee table, almost mocking me. With an uneasy mind and an unsteady heartbeat, I slipped into a fitful sleep, my stomach far too empty and my mind far too full.


	5. Ch.1, Daily Life (Part 2) + FTEs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner was a short affair. Our grasp on unity against the robotic bat and her unsettling offspring was gentle, but for that hour, it seemed as though nothing could break it. Throughout the course of the day, it became apparent that certain boundaries had been drawn— And yet, somehow, even the mild (or not so mild) animosity between some of us had, at least temporarily, faded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! I had some house renovations and my computer was unplugged for a while so I couldn't do the CG for this one until recently ^^;

When I woke up, the first thing I did was check my monopad, in the hopes that there might be an indication of the time. I hadn’t thoroughly checked my monopad thus far, only idly looking at it in-between searching the rooms, and there had to be some sort of answer within the confines of the device. After turning it on and swiping past my student profile and the rulebook, I was taken to a “main screen” of sorts, one that hadn’t seemed to be available beforehand on Miyu’s tablet. I’d have to figure that out later.

From the outside view, it looked similar to what one might expect the screen of a tablet to look like; There were several apps on the screen, none of which I’d ever seen or heard of, all of which were simply labeled.

There were, at the time being, two apps with lock symbols on them, which immediately piqued my curiosity. Neither responded when tapped. I inwardly groaned, figuring Monokoumori had put the apps there to tantalize, and then disappoint. The other apps were vague, yet succinct enough— The ‘memo’ app was (predictably) a simple word processing app, with an interface designed to look like a daily planner, lined paper texture included. The ‘call’ app made me hesitate, yet I pressed onward; A small grid of profiles, similar to the pixellated versions of myself and the others trapped within the building, appeared, alongside a large button with Monokoumori’s profile on it. I selected a profile at random (which ended up being Tetsuo’s), and was presented with a prompt:

_**ID: TETSUO ISAYAMA [Ultimate Medium]** _  
_**Call?** _  
_**-Y** _  
_**-N** _

I stared at the prompt for several seconds, eventually deciding to decline. There wasn’t much point in using that app right away, though I supposed it could come in handy at some point. Instead, I looked at the final app available: The ‘map’. Upon opening the app, a small grid appeared on screen, eerily similar to the mental map of the area that I had already planned out, though with one major difference.

A small, blinking dot over the section where my room was, and a small label: You are here.

Feeling thoroughly unsettled, I closed out of the app.

At that point, I remembered my initial purpose: To figure out the time. Thankfully, after a few experimental swipes, a small overlay appeared from the left side of the screen, featuring a compass, a timer, and a clock. Thought I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I woke up to find myself without my memories, the overlay revealed that it was now almost four in the afternoon. I shut off the monopad.

Funny, how time seemed to pass so warpedly in this deathtrap.

Even if it was a vain hope, I just wanted this entire situation to blow over. Despite that, I knew in the back of my mind that this could only get worse; Monokoumori’s threat had instilled a sense of distrust, and while my secret wasn’t anything worth killing over (though it was definitely an unpleasant truth that I had to prepare myself for), I could easily tell that some of the others would not be so lucky. And while some like Fumio and Akio had tried to get rid of their “evidence”, the fact of the matter was that not only did Monokoumori have the power to reveal our secrets to the world, but she could easily reproduce the damning slips of paper for anyone else to find. The time limit of only three days was also a pressing issue, and while I tried not to let the concept bother me, there was no reassurance in the back of my mind that something awful wouldn’t happen.

But a leader was needed, and I’d be damned if I wouldn’t let myself attain that role.

As I stood up from my bed and headed toward the door, I took a deep breath, and swore to myself that I’d proceed with the day like nothing happened.

* * *

**FREE TIME EVENT: FUMIO INOUE**

My first impulse was to pay a visit to the ultimate actor. Based on what I’d seen of him so far, I could easily assume he’s have some sort of good gossip, and there was a good chance he was dying to share it with someone. Even though we had made less-than-professional first impressions, I had to admit to myself that it’d be useful for later articles to gleam any sort of celebrity news that I could. And so, I found him lingering in the lounge, frowning at the TV.

“No remote?” I asked casually.

Fumio looked back at me, and raised an eyebrow.

“No remote. Not even an on/off switch. There’s literally no point to this TV being here.”

I shrugged, and said, “Maybe it’s just there for aesthetic purposes.” After a short pause, I added, “There’s a TV in your room, isn’t there? With DVDs and such?”

“Yeah, but I’ve already seen or starred in them all, and there’s no way to change the channel on that TV either.” Fumio clicked his tongue, looking to the ceiling. “It’s more fun to judge other peoples’ acting than your own, anyway.”

“Oh?” I asked, eager to find out more.

…

_(I spent some time listening to Fumio complain about a co-star of his…)_

_(Fumio and I grew a little closer today, I guess.)_

“...Hm,” Fumio said, after a while, “You know, I wonder how long it’ll take for my fans to realize I’m missing.”

“Your fans?” I said, tilting my head. In retrospect, it made sense, considering that Fumio was an award-winning actor at such a young age. But seeing him in person, as opposed to on a big screen, certainly shattered any illusion of him being a charming and genuine person.

“Yeah… It’s gonna be annoying if fanmail starts piling up in my letterbox at Hope’s Peak.”

_Oh, that’s what he’s most concerned about._

“Do you really get enough that it’d pile up after a few days?” I pressed.

“Well, duh. I’ve gotten upwards of two hundred per day after some film releases. You’ve watched my first major movie Rise of the Battling Teens, right? The one where society collapses and everyone is forced into a virtual war?”

I nodded, and Fumio smirked slightly.

“After that one, I had to have my chauffeur fight off some rabid fangirls when I was heading out to the store. That’s when we decided to open up a box for fanmail, just to keep their craziness away from me.” His smirk faltered, almost imperceptibly, and he added, “I swear I had hand cramps for an entire week after writing out all the replies.”

I gaped at him, thoroughly shocked— “You personally responded to every single one?!”

Fumio ‘tsk’ed, muttering something about personal obligations as he walked away.

...

**FREE TIME EVENT: AKIO FUJITA**

My second impulse was to pay a visit to the ultimate gardener. He'd seemed surprisingly suspicious, with the way his expression had darkened upon learning the murder motive and the way he'd gotten rid of his secret's paper slip. Surely someone who worked with plants didn't have a too-dangerous secret, right?

After wandering around, I couldn't find him in the lounge or cafe. The only real guess I had left was his room, which I hadn't had the chance to explore— And so, carefully, I wandered to the blue hall, and knocked on his door.

"Gimme a sec!" His voice rang from the other side. Shortly after, the door opened, and a strong whiff of earthy scents immediately hit my nose. Akio blinked several times.

"Junichi? What brings you around here?"

I put my hands in my pockets, feigning casualty.

"I decided the way I cut you off earlier was rude, so I wanted to chat."

Akio blinked several times, and a wide, goofy grin spread across his face.

"What're you waiting for then? Come on in!"

As I stepped inside, I was amazed at the atmosphere; It was almost more like a greenhouse than a bedroom. Akio stepped aside, and it was at that point that I noticed he'd been carrying a watering can. He wandered over to a fern that I couldn't quite identify.

"Aw, who's a thirsty little guy? That's right, you are! Lookit you, growing all big and strong."

…

_(I spent some time watching Akio baby-talk to his plants…)_

_(Akio and I grew a little closer today, I guess.)_

"So," I started, mildly curious, "How did you get into gardening anyway?"

Akio stood up straight, and stretched his arms.

"Well, it all started around when I was eight. My family and I moved from the big city life out into the countryside, and I was pretty near blown away by all the plants around me. There was a little woodsy area, some farmland, a few fields… It was like a whole new world."

Looking at Akio, it was hard to imagine him being a city boy.

"Anyway, I figured I should learn more about the land. So I sneaked around some, started trying to see what was around me. Even started bringing flowers home. And my mom thought they were real pretty, so I just… kept doing it."

_Ah, so he's a momma's boy._

"Did you know there are over four million different types of flowers?" He asked suddenly, looking at me with excitement. "There's so much life out there that you just can't know what to do with it all. But I wanna get as close as I can."

Akio continued his spiel, talking about the differences between perennial and biennial flowers. I briefly wondered if he noticed the way I slowly started to back away.

* * *

Eventually, after I decided I’d spent enough time socializing, I returned to my bedroom. The prospect of going back to sleep was tempting, but as I checked the monopad once again, I was mildly surprised to find that it was already seven in the evening. As if on cue, my stomach rumbled.

_Oh, that’s right. I didn’t even eat lunch today._

Compelled by my hunger, I exited my room once again and headed toward the cafe. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived, given the chaos that transpired earlier, but the strained atmosphere was almost palpable. A closer look inside the room revealed more classmates than I had expected; Tetsuo and Yuuya were seated at one table, though it was obvious that Tetsuo was struggling to speak to him through the veil of awkwardness. Emiko and Yuuto were seated at another, both wearing frowns and practically nibbling at their food, presumably leftovers from lunch. Lucidia was sitting by herself on one of the chairs, her feet propped up on one of the tables and her arms folded across her chest (and, I noted, she had a rather large bruise on her cheek.) The only real sounds were the occasional swirling sound of Chikako at the counter, mixing something-or-other in a bowl… and Fumio, who was whistling some tune or another.

_God, this is almost painful._

As I remembered my promise to myself— to upkeep some sense of normalcy— I decided the best course of action would be to break the silence. I walked over to the kitchenette, and leaned against the counter. Chikako only looked up at me for a moment, questioning, before returning to her work. I peered into the mixing bowl.

“Icing?”

Chikako nodded, and said, “For the sugar cookies. I decided it would be nice to add a bit of color to them, so I nabbed some ingredients from the cabinets in my bedroom and started making some.” She paused, and asked, “Do you like buttercream?”

I shrugged.

“I’m not really one for sweets. Though I suppose if the ultimate baker is making them, they must be of a high quality.”

Chikako glanced at me.

“You really mean that?”

I smiled at her, trying my best to sound amicable.

“There’s a reason Hope’s Peak chose you, isn’t there?”

“And here I thought I was a flirt,” Fumio cut in with a smirk.

“I’m not flirting,” I said, my smile fading somewhat, “I’m just trying to engage in a friendly conversation. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re all a bit tense here. We could use a sense of normalcy.”

Emiko hummed, and popped a grape into her mouth.

“So maybe Junichi has a heart of gold after all.”

“W-well, we didn’t get to talk to him much before,” Yuuto said, hesitantly lowering the surgical mask to his chin and reaching for a grape as well.

“I realize I might not have made the best first impression on some of you,” I continued, “And I want to atone for that. Building steady relationships and networking is an important part of being a journalist.”

It was partly the truth, anyway.

“Man, I’m tired of being bummed out,” Yuuya spoke up, and started to smile.

“Me too!” Tetsuo exclaimed, suddenly slamming his hands on the table in excitement. “I don’t want to worry about some robot! I’m tougher than that! I have the power!”

“When you sleep, maybe,” Lucidia spoke up dismissively.

“Annnnnnd that’s the kind of attitude that makes you unattractive,” Fumio sneered.

“Let’s not start with that, please,” Came a familiar voice from the entryway.

A glance revealed Daisuke, who was, compared to earlier, looking remarkably calm. Lucidia looked at him carefully, assessingly.

“Playing pacifist, are we? I’m surprised you’re standing up for me, considering I outed that awful little hidden truth of yours earlier.”

Daisuke closed his eyes and sighed.

“I’m not proud of my mistakes. I realize that what I’ve done in the past was careless and shameful. But setting aside the fact that you’ve already found out now, I’ve decided to put forward a stronger effort to be someone that I can be proud of. I want to be able to earn the trust of my peers.” He paused, and opened his eyes, looking at Lucidia neutrally. “While I don’t approve of your method, I don’t blame you for what you did. We must be able to learn how to trust each other if we want to escape.”

“That’s a charming thought,” Lucidia remarked, “But I’m not telling any of you my secret. I suspect I’m not the only one hesitant to reveal the truth as well.”

“So then why’d you air our dirty laundry?” Yuuya asked, sounding more confused than annoyed.

“I saw an opportunity to reveal the true personalities of you all, and I wanted to take it.” Lucidia gingerly placed her hand on her cheek, still wincing at the fresh pain. “I don’t particularly care how much any of you trust me, but I want to know who or what I’m dealing with before someone really does die.”

“That’s not really a healthy outlook to have…” Chikako frowned, having stopped her mixing for the time being.

“I’m not saying we have to reveal our secrets,” Daisuke said carefully, “But I think we have to establish some sort of honesty policy if we want to get anywhere.”

“Speaking of which,” I interjected, “We never really talked about what we found during the lunch time. We should probably start from there. Does anyone want to volunteer to gather the others?”

“Yuuya and I can do it!” Tetsuo said confidently, and Yuuya nodded in response. The two then whooped and raced out of the room— Yeah, there were definitely perks to being a leader.

After some time had passed, Tetsuo and Yuuya returned with the rest of the ultimates in tow. I nabbed one of the small sandwiches from the platter that remained on the table and took a seat on one of the chairs, motioning for the rest to do the same. There weren’t enough chairs in the room to seat everyone, leading to Miyu, Akio, and Ai sitting on the floor, but nobody seemed to mind. After everyone had situated themselves neatly, some grabbing food and others going without, I cleared my throat and spoke up.

“I think we should establish a schedule of some sort. Maybe a daily meeting in the mornings, just to keep tabs on everyone.”

“Oh yeah, cause like… we can’t meet up in some rooms after curfew, right?” Miyu asked.

“Not without, uh, risking expulsion,” Akio said, twiddling his thumbs.

“What would be a good time?” Ruri asked.

“Curfew lasts from ten P.M. to eight A.M. If we meet up here first thing in the morning, that would be easier to guarantee safety,” Daisuke suggested.

“Aw man,” Yuuya half-whined, “I can’t function that early in the morning, y’know?”

“I’m tempted to agree,” Shiori added sheepishly. “I’m a bit of a problematic sleeper… as you could probably guess.”

“We have to agree on something,” I said, withholding my impatience.

“How about nine-thirty A.M.?” Miyu said, tapping her chin, “That way we have time to get ready! I need at least an hour to get my outfit organized and my makeup on, obviously.”

“I have no objections,” Hiroe said, and looked between Daisuke and I carefully. “Was this the only objective of our gathering here? To discuss a potential meeting time?”

I shook my head; “Unfortunately not. We haven’t hashed out what we found when we were searching earlier today. Did anyone see anything that could potentially lead to an escape? Or anything useful?”

“Well…” Yuuto spoke, apparently inspecting an apple for blemishes, “Emiko and Shiori and I… might have found something?”

All gazes in the room immediately snapped towards Yuuto. Instead of answering, he seemed to shy away, and bit into the apple instead— Probably an excuse to avoid saying what he’d found. He glanced at Emiko, who sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair.

“In Shiori’s room…” Emiko said, “There are all sorts of techy gadgets, including a huge supercomputer. But it’s practically bolted to the floor of the room, and nobody knows the passcode to it.”

Shiori looked at the floor, frowning and avoiding eye contact. After a moment, she said dejectedly, “I know it sounds suspicious… but you have to believe me when I say I had no way of opening it! I don’t even have the faintest idea of what kind of files could be inside…” She faltered, and added, “But I’ve got plans for a wireless communicator that should allow me to bypass the security measures. It might take a while, but I think I can find a way to get more information about where we are and how we got here! So please have faith in me!”

“How long do you imagine it’ll take?” Daisuke asked.

“Well… it’s hard to say for sure, since I’m more accustomed to the physical and mechanical engineering aspect of robots, but I do have a background in coding, so it shouldn’t take more than a day or two.”

“So problem solved, right?” Chikako said hopefully. “Monokoumori said we had three days to… to do something, or else she’d reveal our secrets. If you can find information on how to get out of here before then, we can beat that dumb piece of fur and metal at her own game!”

“Provided Shiori can actually pull it off,” Lucidia said derisively.

“Well she’s not the ultimate roboticist for nothing!” Emiko said, her voice steadily getting louder as she spoke. “I bet she could probably even make another Monokoumori if she felt like it!”

“Y-you’re not really helping her case,” Yuuto said, much quieter— And yet, somehow, Emiko heard him and sat down with an apology.

“Anyone else?” I asked in an attempt to direct everyone’s attention back to the main goal.

“Nada from us,” Akio spoke, earning nods from Yuuya and Tetsuo.

“Nothing on our end either,” Daisuke said with a small frown, glancing at Hiroe. “...Or rather, nothing that we were allowed to see.”

I raised an eyebrow at Daisuke, glancing between him, Hiroe, and Lucidia. It didn’t seem like anyone picked up on that strange little statement, so I filed it away for later.

“We didn’t see anything either,” Chikako added.

I looked at Shiori. Of all those gathered in the room, she seemed the most suspicious. But I needed an opportunity to investigate more privately, and if I cast doubt on her now, there would be an even larger air of distrust in the deadly school— One that would hinder my attempts at progress.

“Then I guess we’ll have to rely on Shiori for now,” I said, and looked at her. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find something.”

“Thank you,” Shiori answered, audibly relieved.

“Can we eat now?” Yuuya asked suddenly. “I’ve got cravings like crazy.”

I looked at him with mild confusion at his phrasing.

“You could have eaten at any time, you know.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess you’re right, man.”

Yuuya’s response managed to drag a laugh out of myself and several others, and slowly but surely, we settled into a lighthearted atmosphere. Food was shared, stories were told, and for at least that one, tenuous moment, we were at peace.

* * *

Dinner was a short affair. Our grasp on unity against the robotic bat and her unsettling offspring was gentle, but for that hour, it seemed as though nothing could break it. Throughout the course of the day, it became apparent that certain boundaries had been drawn— And yet, somehow, even the mild (or not so mild) animosity between some of us had, at least temporarily, faded. If nothing else, Hiroe and Lucidia seemed to stay far away from each other, Fumio gave up his attempt at flirtation (probably not for good), and even the others began to seem much more pleasant to interact with.

_This is probably the best opportunity I’ll get to pry some information out of everyone._

Slowly but surely, the others in the room began to filter out. Shiori was the first to leave, stating that she wanted to get a head start on the wireless device; Following shortly after was Yuuya, who said he wanted to, quote-unquote, “dick around on the monopad and see what’s up”; Lucidia, Akio, Miyu, Ai, Tetsuo, Emiko, Yuuto, Fumio, Ruri, and Daisuke followed in that order. Eventually, even Chikako had gotten tired of puttering around in the cafe and left— Which gave me the perfect opportunity to approach the one person who I was most curious about.

“Aren’t you going to rejoin with the others?” Hiroe asked me.

“Not yet. I was hoping to talk to you about something.”

Hiroe eyed me, a hint of skepticism barely visible in her expression.

“Am I to infer that you’re inquiring about the nature of my secret? Because if that’s the case, I have nothing to converse with you.”

I blinked.

“You’re really… verbose, aren’t you?”

The corners of Hiroe’s lips quirked downward, and she looked away.

“The environment in which I’d grown up had cultured a habit of being overly-explanative, that much is true.”

“So tell me more about that environment, then,” I pressed, and removed the monopad from my coat pocket to open up the memo app.

“If I can recall a certain phrase I was once told… I’m sorry, you must be at least a level four friend to unlock my tragic backstory.”

I stared at her, barely resisting the urge to document a stray thought.

_So she has a sense of humor. Surprising._

“In other words, you don’t want to say anything about anything. Can I at least know why?” I insisted.

Hiroe still refused to face me.

“Perhaps you’re more of an optimistic soul than I am, but I’m predisposed to expect the worst possible outcome. And I’d prefer to stray away from the spotlight of suspicion.”

“Don’t you think that just makes you more suspicious?” I countered, feeling twin stabs of anxiety and annoyance.

Hiroe didn’t respond, and stood up to exit the cafe, leaving me alone with nothing but my thoughts and a sickness in my stomach.

“...God fucking damn it.”

* * *

Sleep didn’t come easily to me that night. The exchange with Hiroe had left me feeling conflicted; Was her intuition right? Was someone really going to be murdered? Or was she overestimating the rest of us?

There was only one real way to settle myself.

I opened my monopad once again, the only source of illumination in my room after I had turned off the lights and locked the door.

…

_I don’t know how I arrived here. I don’t know where I am. And I don’t even know any of the people I’ve met here. This entire situation seems so impossible, and yet it’s a reality I’m facing as I write this now. I’m writing this memo in the hopes that there truly is someone out there, someone who can find us ultimate students, perhaps even rescue us… And if not, I want to leave proof that we were here, all fifteen of us. I’ve spent my entire life moving through the shadows of others, documenting their thoughts and stories. This time, it feels like we’re the ones in the story to be told. If anything happens to me while I’m here, know that my name is Junichi Sasaki, the ultimate journalist, and I refuse to leave the world without a mark on it. Remember me._

…

I looked at the writing grimly, and exited the memo app, shutting off my monopad shortly after.

If I had a dream that night, I didn’t remember it. Maybe it was better that way.

* * *

I woke up with a start to the sound of my monopad blaring a mockery of a school bell tone.

Turning the power on, I was greeted by the sight of the five legged-eggs, all sitting on what appeared to be a luxurious couch in front of a curtained window.

_‘Scuze me! This is an announcement from mommy’s little angels!_

_Hey, knock it off! Mommy’s gonna hard-boil us if she hears us calling ourselves that!_

_Is that a bad thing?_

_..._

_It’s now eight A.M! We hope you enjoy your day!_

_CLICK._

As quickly as it had appeared, the display flickered out. I frowned, tempted to chuck the device at the wall before thinking better of it. An hour and a half remained until I was required to meet up with the others in the cafe, but I was unsure of what to do until then. I didn’t feel like being social at the time, and I doubted many of the others were ready either (I had no desire to find out who may have liked to sleep in the buff, thank you very much). After a brief moment of thought, I turned on the monopad once again, and examined the other apps. Checking it previously had revealed a pair of locked apps that I hadn’t examined; One remained locked, but the other now revealed an app with a simple star as the icon, labeled ‘Entertainment’. While the contents were probably dubious, I decided it was worth a shot to look inside.

All that greeted me, however, was a screen that said ‘Monokoumori Theater: Coming Soon!’

Of course.

“What is that deranged bat thinking?” I wondered out loud.

“Hey, I’m not deranged! I’m just misunderstood!”

I turned my head, and it took nearly all of my self-restraint to avoid shrieking.

“What are you doing here?!” I questioned.

Monokoumori shuffled her feet in what may have been a display of shyness if it was from anyone (or anything) more sincere, and dejectedly murmured something along the lines of “Why are they never happy to see me?” She then looked at me, her menacing red eye flickering in contrast to her beady black eye.

“I just wanted to give you a little something-something for all the hard work you’ve done so far…”

I squinted at her.

“What are you referring to? Am I even going to want to see what you have to offer?”

“Siiiiiiigh, you kids and your questions!” Monokoumori groused.

“You already said that yesterday.”

“...Anyway!” Monokoumori clasped the ends of her wings like hands, “I noticed you’ve been getting close to some of your classmates in your free time, and I wanted to give ya a little reward for it! So… tah-dah!”

Quickly, much like she had done with the slips of paper with the motives printed on them, she flapped her wings, and out dropped… two small, green, diamond-shaped pieces of glass.

“What… are these?” I asked, carefully picking them up.

“Those are friendship fragments! I’m giving them to you, and you only! Consider them an incentive to get to know your classmates better. If you collect enough of ‘em, I’ll give you an extra-special something!”

“How many is ‘enough’?” I asked skeptically.

“Hmm, you tell me.”

We stared at each other for several seconds.

“Are you done here?” I asked.

“Fine, fine, I get it. You want me out of your hair, don’t you? You want your…” Monokoumori paused pointedly, “...Private time, right? Don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’m an understanding headmaster!”

“Wha— I’m not gonna do whatever weird thing you’re thinking about!”

Monokoumori waved me off; “Bah, I know how you young adults are. Just try to keep it PG in front of the others, you hear me? Nobody likes a perverted protagonist!”

“Get out.”

With a static-y snicker, Monokoumori spun around, and once again seemed to spin out of existence.

Maybe it would be better to stay in my room until nine-thirty.

* * *

As I entered the cafe, I noticed that there were several among us fifteen who were missing; Shiori, Yuuya, and Lucidia were absent from the room. I frowned and sat down on one of the chairs, hoping for an explanation. Several minutes passed, but none was provided.

“So like… Shiori and Yuuya are probably sleeping in, but like… why is Lucidia gone?” Miyu asked, fussing with one of her bracelets.

“I’m not really sure,” Akio answered, removing his cap and waving it around. He then stopped, and said in a quiet voice, “You don’t think she…?”

“If that was meant to be a joke, it wasn’t funny,” Ai cut in. “Since it appears to be concerning everyone, I’ll retrieve the three of them.”

As Ai left, it was obvious that everyone in the room, myself included, was expecting the worst. Time felt like it passed by agonizingly slowly, though in reality, it was probably only a minute or two at most before Ai returned, a yawning Shiori and a half-asleep stumbling Yuuya in tow… along with Lucidia, who looked even more testy than usual.

The relief that spread throughout the room was practically tangible.

“So, we’re all here,” Daisuke confirmed. “Shiori, do you have any progress made on the device?”

Shiori smiled with embarrassment, the red of her lipstick making the bags under her eyes even more noticeable.

“Um… I’ve been struggling a bit, so it’s been taking more time than expected to get things started, but I was up most of the night working on it, and I promise I’ll work more on it today!”

“You look worn out,” Akio spoke up, and moved towards one of the cabinets in the kitchenette. “I think I saw a tin of earl gray tea leaves around here, let me make you a cup. I know how to maximize the potency of their caffeine!”

“That’s not really necessary,” Shiori laughed awkwardly, “I probably just need to rest for a little bit. Maybe I can find a few minutes later today…”

“Minutes?!”

“Excuse me,” Hiroe said loudly, not shirking away when everyone’s attention turned to her, “Before we proceed with our daily schedule, I have a request I’d like to implement.”

“And that would be…?” Daisuke asked.

“...I want to show you my room. All of you.”

Lucidia sneered, and moved toward the entry to the hallway.

“As if I’d be interested in anything you have to offer.”

She walked away.

“What got into her?” Emiko asked after a short silence.

“I might be mistaken, but maybe, just maybe, there’s some animosity between her and Hiroe. You know, since Hiroe decked her in the face yesterday,” Fumio said sarcastically.

“I don’t regret my actions,” Hiroe said, then glanced at me. “I’ve done a bit of self-reflection, and… while I’m not willing to share what Monokoumori is holding against me, I do want to prove that I can be worthy of your trust.”

Daisuke regarded her carefully.

“If you think it will help, then I’m all for it.”

“Go ahead and show us, then,” I added, watching Daisuke from my peripheral vision.

Hiroe nodded.


	6. Ch.1, Daily Life (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before I could process the thoughts swirling around in my mind, my limbs began to move almost on their own— I started walking down the hallway, then broke into a sprint. The smell grew stronger and stronger as I followed the trail into the elevator room.
> 
> And there, lying in the middle of it all, was the one sight everyone had feared the most.

Despite what Hiroe had told me when I first encountered her, nothing could have prepared me for the sight of the inside of her room. To say it was armed to the teeth was a tremendous understatement.

Targets were lined along one of the walls, some in the shape of human silhouettes, others more traditional, none with any sort of blemishes (so far). Another wall featured an alarming array of weapons— True to what she had spoken about earlier, there were a variety of gun models, both archaic and new, a set of crossbows, a selection of axes, and a small cluster of throwing knives. Compared to the massive display of weaponry, the small, modest bed in the corner of her room seemed even more small and modest. Several cases were slotted along the room’s interior, including a series of filing shelves indexed with several strange labels. I curiously looked inside one with a tag that read ‘M27 IAR’.

Cartridges upon cartridges of bullets.

I quietly closed the shelf.

“As you can see,” Hiroe spoke once again, “There is a large variety of weapons here. Weapons that are strong, weapons that are weak, weapons that are traditional, weapons that are not. Most if not all of which I have been specially trained to use, in lethal and non-lethal combat situations.”

“This place has more trinkets and stuff than mine does!” Emiko said, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“That’s not really something to be proud of...” Yuuto quietly interrupted, and immediately tacked on, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that!”

“Don’t be,” Hiroe sighed. “For me, showing you this is… a gesture of goodwill.”

“What do you mean?” Ruri asked, glancing around the room nervously.

“I know I’ve proven myself to be rather untrustworthy…” Hiroe said with a barely-there hint of shame, “I… refused to let anyone see my room while we were searching. Daisuke and Lucidia can confirm this. But I don’t want my negative reputation to precede me anymore. And so…” She looked up, practically radiating determination, “I want to get rid of these weapons.”

“Get rid of…?” Yuuya asked, confused, “How do we get rid of a bunch of weapons?”

Shiori flinched, and hesitantly raised her hand.

“Um… about that.”

All eyes in the room turned to her.

“One of the mechanical pieces in my bedroom is a hydraulic press. It… could be possible to destroy them with that, though it’s fairly small. We’d have to take them in one at a time.”

“With fourteen of us working together, it would take much less time going back and forth between the rooms,” Daisuke nodded.

“Then I guess we’re going to be making a bit of a mess today,” I grimaced. “In that case… everyone, carry what you can, and let’s move them all to Shiori’s room.”

A feat easier said than done; While some of the weapons were lightweight, others were heavier and harder to move (leading me to wonder how Monokoumori expected Hiroe to use them in the first place). Destroying them was also a risky process, as we all had to stand behind a bulletproof glass barrier to prevent any broken shards from flying at us while the arms were crushed beneath the weight of the press. The sheer amount of tools to be destroyed left us waiting much longer than I’d expected, and by the time we were done, all of us were tired and hungry.

* * *

When we returned to the cafe, the first thing I noticed was that something seemed different from the day before. Something was missing.

“Aw man, there’s no soup? What’s the deal with that?” Miyu pouted.

Oh, right. Some of the food was missing.

“Boo, hoo, hoo!”

By that point, I had almost gotten used to the sound of Monokoumori’s voice appearing out of nowhere.

Almost.

I shifted my focus to the bat, who was cradling one of the eggs— the white and blue one, actually— in her hands.

“My darling Tamagatsu… one of you brats ruined my baby! Boo, hoo, hoo!”

Fumio looked at Monokoumori, unimpressed.

“I guess robots can’t cry. Or at least, not convincingly.”

Monokoumori turned her head to look at Fumio, practically exuding rage (or as much as an emotionless robot could).

“You kicked Tamagatsu, didn’t you? You’re responsible for this, aren’t you?!”

“You said we could,” Fumio countered.

Monokoumori did nothing for several seconds.

“Eh, I guess you’re right.”

She then unceremoniously dropped the nonfunctioning egg onto the floor with a dull clatter.

“However!” Monokoumori continued, “My children were responsible for making all of your food, and I specifically said yesterday that Tamagatsu was in charge of the soups! But now that my baby is functionally useless, there won’t be any more soup for any of you!” A pause, and then, “Although, Tamagoro has been slacking lately…”

“I find it odd how you claim to have power, yet you’re incapable of taking care of your own child,” Lucidia said sharply.

“Pah, I was given four others. I’ll be fine.”

“...Given?” I asked, regretting the words as soon as they escaped my mouth.

Monokoumori giggled.

“Of course. Did you think we just popped into existence? No, someone had to create me and my children. Unfortunately, while I can be anywhere at any time, my little angels weren’t given that luxury, and Tamagatsu was always the runt of the litter. Poor planning on my keeper’s part, honestly.”

“Your keeper?” Akio asked with uncertainty, “So… someone’s controlling you?”

“What an interesting question! Too bad I’m not telling you the answer to it.” Monokoumori flapped her wings once, twice, and disappeared yet again, leaving the metal husk of an egg behind.

“That bat has some major issues,” Miyu spoke up after a while, looking at the egg, “And I never got my soup, either.”

“I don’t think the soup is the worst of our problems right now…” Emiko said nervously.

“Man, I just want, like, a normal hour in this place,” Yuuya groaned, and made a beeline for the gigantic fruit tray.

“I’m almost certain that ‘normal’ and ‘this place’ are polar opposites,” Ai said, following Yuuya.

One by one, it seemed like the exhaustion and hunger began to creep up on us, as we tried our best to disregard the broken robotic egg and eat. It may have been easier than before; The destruction of Hiroe’s weapons proved to be some small sense of security, and the fact that Monokoumori had nothing else to say in the matter was promising. Shiori promised that she would return to work on the supercomputer as soon as she was done eating, and there was still time before Monokoumori would attempt to honor her threat. For the time being, we were safe.

...Right?

* * *

The rest of the day passed by in a haze. It seemed as though there wasn’t much else to do in this cramped prison, and the ennui that began to sink in was evident not only in myself, but in the others too. Many of us returned to our rooms, myself included.

_At the very least, I can try to keep myself entertained by looking through the files in my room again. Maybe something changed._

To my dismay, nothing had changed, or at least nothing notable. The files in the cabinets were of various reports, and though I took more time to read through them than I had when I first woke up, I found nothing of interest. In fact, some of the reports were in different languages, or perhaps just gibberish. I briefly considered approaching Lucidia for assistance, but after remembering her salty attitude and her refusal to come out of her room for the day, I thought better of it.

During my search, I’d only been interrupted once— By a knock on the door.

“Junichi?” A familiar feminine voice called out. “The monolings have dinner ready… are you busy?”

I stopped my search and walked to the door, only opening it a crack.

“I’ve got a lot of research to do, so I’m going to skip dinner.” Not quite the truth, but close enough to it. “Has anything happened while I’ve been in here?”

Ruri shifted her weight from foot to foot anxiously.

“Well… Lucidia still hasn’t come out of her room, and she won’t even talk to anyone. I tried calling for her too, but her door is locked. And… well, that one egg that broke is missing. Nobody knows where it is.”

I frowned, somewhat taken aback.

“That’s concerning. Do you think Monokoumori might know what happened to it?”

“I’m not sure,” Ruri looked away.

I thought for a moment. My frown deepened.

“I might have an idea. Let me get my monopad.”

After retrieving the godforsaken device, I powered it on, and after a moment of hesitation, pressed the app that said ‘call’, then the icon of Monokoumori.

The screen automatically shut off.

“Well,” I said after a moment, “That was… anticlimactic.”

“I’ll say!”

Ruri yelped as Monokoumori came into view, flapping her wings and gliding over the back of my shoulder.

“Junichi, my dearest student! Did you finally call me to—”

“Where’s your egg?”

“Eh? You mean Tamagatsu?” Monokoumori tapped the tip of a wing to her chin, “Why should it matter to me? The thing is busted beyond repair.”

“So in other words, you have no idea either.”

“Hmmph!” Monokoumori huffed, “It’s not my job to pay attention to you brats all day. I’m a busy robot, you know! My duty is to tend to the environment, deliver discipline, and… hmm.” She paused; “You know, I’ve been flapping my gums too much today. Tah-tah for now!”

“H-hey, wait!” Ruri said, reaching out to Monokoumori.

Her effort was fruitless, as the bat once again disappeared into thin air.

“You don’t suppose there was some sort of clue in what she said earlier, do you?” I asked, tapping my foot out of habit.

Ruri only responded with a mumbled “I’ll leave you alone now”, walking away glumly.

As I went back into my room, I swore to myself that I’d never use the ‘call’ app again.

* * *

_Ding, dong, ding, dong!_

_‘Scuze me! This is an announcement from mommy’s li… um, I mean, the monolings!_

_It’s now ten p.m. Time for bed!_

_...I miss Tamagatsu…_

_Goodnight everyone! Hope to see you all tomorrow!_

_CLICK._

* * *

When I woke up the next morning to the poor attempt of a facsimile of yesterday’s announcement, I was almost tempted to stay under the covers until I fell asleep again. I was sorely lacking any sort of stimulus— My investigations from the previous night were fruitless, and conversing with the others was beginning to feel like a hassle. It took several moments for me to shake my head and clear my thoughts.

_You have to move forward. Staying in bed is stagnance, and being stagnant didn’t get you to where you are today._

That, and I had to report to the cafe for the morning.

I grabbed my monopad and left the room.

As I made my way down the green hall, I took a deep, resigned breath… and immediately gagged. Something in the air smelled absolutely rancid, almost-but-not-quite familiar, and I scrambled to make my way to the central hub. Unfortunately, that only made the stench worse, and from the other side of the pillar, I saw several of the others, harshly muttering— Ai, Emiko, Chikako, and Yuuto, all looking to be varying degrees of queasy. Even Yuuto's sick mask couldn't deter the awful smell, based on the way he was holding himself and breathing harshly.

"Why are you all standing around?" I asked, attempting not to grimace. "We're supposed to meet in the cafe."

Emiko frowned, her face turning an unfortunate shade of green.

"Well, there's this awful smell, and I wanted to check out what was making it, but…" She glanced down the dark corridor, "I think it's coming from the elevator room, and we're not allowed to go in there."

Yuuto grimaced, and added, "I… I know I've dealt with such an awful smell before, but I can't remember where… _urk!"_

I sidestepped away from Yuuto, hoping to whatever deities existed that he didn't puke.

"It's dried blood."

As if on cue, the five of us snapped our gazes toward the source of the sound: Hiroe, who had stepped into the hub and was glaring down the darkened hallway with a sharp expression.

Chikako was the first to break the nervous silence.

"Y-you mean…?"

"We need to find a way to get into the elevator room," Ai said carefully, then cleared her throat.

"Does anyone have their monopad with them?" Hiroe asked determinedly, "We can use the call app to summon Monokoumori."

"No need to, seeing as I'm right here!"

Yuuto yelped and stumbled backwards when, out of thin air, Monokoumori glided down from atop the ivory pillar.

"Hey, what's going on?!" Chikako spoke up in a loud, anxious tone.

"Hmm… I hadn't planned to open up the elevator room so early… Oh well! I guess I can always put up an out-of-order sign!"

"Are you permitting us entrance into the elevator room, then?" Hiroe asked.

"Wow, you sure don't mess around, do you?" Monokoumori pouted (as much as a robot could pout) and clapped her wings together. Suddenly, the hallway to the elevator room was flooded with blinding light, before settling down to something much more palatable.

As certainly as Hiroe had said, there was a trail of blood leading down the hallway, dried and stained.

Before I could process the thoughts swirling around in my mind, my limbs began to move almost on their own— I started walking down the hallway, then broke into a sprint. The smell grew stronger and stronger as I followed the trail into the elevator room.

And there, lying in the middle of it all, was the one sight everyone had feared the most.


	7. Ch.1, Deadly Life (investigation)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokoumori’s red eye glinted.
> 
> “Oh? Did I not tell you? It wouldn’t be fair to everyone if the murderer escaped so easily! So, in order to help you save your skins, I’ve designed a fun little game mechanic called the Class Trial!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this has been in the works for quite a bit, but... tbh, I initially had a hard time coming up with the enthusiasm to write this chapter. It feels kinda like nobody cares? But I'm gonna work my hardest to make something I'm proud of, and I at least have the class trial (mostly) written lout, so after I finish the CGs for that and maybe make an execution video, I'll see where I want to go.
> 
> That being said, please, please, PLEASE leave a comment if you like what you read so far! Or even just leave a kudos tbh, I just... want to know that someone cares about my writing ^^;

There, in the middle of the elevator room, against all odds and against all hopes, was the lifeless body of Shiori Noguchi.

Words escaped me; Something I was horribly unprepared to admit. There was a deafening ringing in my ears to fill the silence instead. It wasn’t the first dead body that I’d seen. It wasn’t the first dead body of someone who I knew that I’d seen. But it was the first time I’d ever realized I was within the line of fire.

Journalism is a funny little occupation; You can claw your way to the top with bloody, calloused hands, forced to be omnipotent, available at the exact right place at the exact right time, just to get a shred of a chance at making an impact. And no matter what your repertoire may be, if you aren’t ready to use those same hands to push and shove at anyone who stands in your way, you’ll never survive. Who would trust a seventeen-year-old enough to let them into the fray— Even one chosen by a school as esteemed as Hope’s Peak Academy?

Suddenly, the concept of cutthroat journalism was becoming more and more painfully literal.

“Junichi?” A fearful voice called out, and the sound of footsteps entering the room echoed hollowly, followed by a horrified gasp. Seconds stretched into hours as Chikako turned her heel and dashed out of the room with a distressed wail, alerting the others to step inside and witness the sight for themselves. Somewhere in the distant recesses of my mind, I could hear a buzzing sound, followed by the ringing of a school bell.

_Ding, dong, bing, bong!_

_“A body has been discovered! For those interested in participating in the precursory investigation, please report to the elevator room!”_

Investigation.

The word I’d grown so fond of using had shown itself outside of my will, and I snapped to attention. Regaining the clarity of my thoughts, albeit staggered, I scanned the elevator room. Chikako, Emiko, Ai, Yuuto, and Hiroe were scattered around the area of the entryway and hallway to the room, with Chikako and Hiroe at the forefront. Chikako looked like she was about to cry, while Hiroe’s carefully-neutral expression began to fade into frustration. Meanwhile, Ai and Emiko were helping steady an increasingly jittery Yuuto.

“Where’s Monokoumori?” I asked, mildly relieved that my voice had managed to remain level.

_Show no weakness._

“Ahem.”

I angled my body to look around the room, my eyes landing on Monokoumori, who was tapping a foot against the dark hardwood flooring.

“Didn’t you hear my announcement from Emiko’s monopad and the overhead speakers?” She asked, completely disregarding any questions I may have had about how she could have made it while still being in the same vicinity of the six living, breathing people nearby. “You’d better make some space. This room isn’t that big, and most of your friends should be coming in any second now.”

True to her word, more and more of the others arrived. Noticeably absent were Yuuya, Miyu, and somewhat unexpectedly, Tetsuo. With some mild pushing, the ten other students and myself had managed to cram ourselves into the cramped entryway of the elevator room. Monokoumori scanned the area, and let out what was either a gleeful titter or a static-y interference.

“So glad to see so many willing participants! ...Of course, not that any of you would be able to avoid the class trial, but partaking in the investigation will be so much more interesting, don’t you think?”

“Class trial?” Hiroe interjected, her earlier frustration not yet entirely set aside.

Monokoumori’s red eye glinted.

“Oh? Did I not tell you? It wouldn’t be fair to everyone if the murderer escaped so easily! So, in order to help you save your skins, I’ve designed a fun little game mechanic called the Class Trial!” Monokoumori paused for effect, and struck a dramatic pose. “I’m allowing all of you a small timeframe to investigate the scene of the crime— quite generous of me, really— during which you can gather evidence and any other clues that will help you decide who the killer is. You will then gather in the central hub to be taken to the trial grounds, where you will collaborate with your peers to find out whodunnit! ...Or, deflect suspicion from yourself. Who am I to refuse a little perjury?”

“And what happens if we refuse?” Ai asked.

“Hmm… something unfortunate, I’m sure,” Monokoumori stated with what might have been a shrug… and as swiftly as she’d arrived, spun and blipped out of existence.

Once again left to our own devices, the room was silent for several painful, warped seconds.

Shiori was dead, and one of us had killed her.

And now it was up to us— up to me— to bring her killer to justice.

Before anyone had the opportunity to break the silence, it was broken for us by the sound of loud buzzing, similar to what I’d heard before upon discovering Shiori’s body. Now that the shell-shock had worn off, I realized the loudest buzzing sound was coming from my pocket.

The monopad was going off insistently.

"What now?" I muttered to myself, pulling out the damned thing and turning it on.

Shortly after swiping through the initial screens, I looked at the apps, and felt my expression turn sour. Next to the ‘entertainment’ app, the second locked app had been revealed— an icon with a skull and crossbones, simply named ‘files’.

_Oh, god._

It seemed as though everyone else in the room with a monopad was looking through theirs as well. With no small amount of trepidation, I tapped on the app, and gave the screen a thorough examination.

**VICTIM INFORMATION:**

  * Name: Shiori Noguchi
  * Cause of Death: Blood Loss
  * Time of Death: 1:08 AM
  * Injury Notes: A. Deep puncture through heart
  * No other external injuries or body contaminants found.



“How disgustingly clinical,” A voice from one corner of the room said, breaking the tense silence that had permeated the room as everyone read. I glanced up to see none other than Lucidia, whose face was scrunched up into a rather ugly expression. She then looked aside, aiming a steady, loathsome gaze at Hiroe. “Of course, I’d expect the same from our main suspect.”

“I’m to assume you’re referring to me, then?” Hiroe bit back.

“Obviously,” Lucidia continued, a nasty smirk creeping into her expression. “She was shot with an arrow. You’re the ultimate sharpshooter, it’s practically in your nature. Case closed, _pas plus.”_

“That doesn’t sound quite right…” Akio hesitantly spoke up from his position, leaning against one of the standees. “I mean, we destroyed all the weapons, didn’t we?”

“I assumed that we did, anyway,” Daisuke said, his voice monotone.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This conversation was giving me nothing but a headache, as if I hadn’t already been feeling weary enough. The bickering in the back grew in volume, until I couldn’t take it anymore.

I snapped.

_“Everyone, just shut up!”_

I took a deep breath, and set aside my monopad, then folded my arms across my chest.

“We’ve only got a limited amount of time to— to investigate, and if we keep wasting it in here, we’re never going to find anything out, and we’re all going to die. As the one with the most inquisitive experience, I suggest that we stop babbling and _actually start looking around.”_

Sweet, sweet silence.

“I…” Emiko started, disheartened, “I guess I could start looking through Hiroe’s room for any evidence.”

“I’ll go with you,” Ruri said, equally put-off. “It’ll be better to avoid people tampering with it.”

“Hm. All the better to condemn her, then,” Lucidia said unkindly, then followed the two outside the elevator room.

With my head clear enough to actually process more information now, I looked around the room. Everyone else who had remained seemed to be some shade of nervous. I let my gaze fall back to Shiori’s corpse, and grimaced. Time to get started.

**INVESTIGATION START!**

With several of the others (presumably) still asleep or having left the room, there was much more space for me to maneuver around the crime scene. With the status of the body already established, I decided not to search through it. Not only was it jarring, but I also suspected it wouldn’t earn me any favor with the others.

_Then again… who would want to kill Shiori in the first place? She was our best chance at escaping this hellhole._

Instead, I decided to search the area around the body. There wasn’t much already existing in the elevator room; The panel that Akio had been leaning against was some sort of indicator of the floors of the building (which was currently covered with a crudely-written “work in progress” sign), and the walls were covered in ugly, generic wallpaper decorated with even uglier, more generic paintings…

_Wait. What’s that?_

I stepped around the panel, and looked at the wallpaper on the wall behind Shiori’s body. Roughly five feet from the floor, if I was guessing correctly, was a deep indentation on the wall, with crumbled edges. It looked as though something had been jammed into it, with no other marks around it.

_That can’t be right…_

Carefully, I took the monopad out of my pocket and turned it on. Right on the lock screen was the rulebook. I skimmed through it, until I finally landed on the fourth rule;

_Curfew is from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM. During curfew, some areas of the building may be restricted to enter, such as the elevator room, and entry can only be allowed by special permission from the headmaster. Setting foot inside these areas without permission will also result in immediate expulsion._

I grimaced; A direct contradiction. How could anyone, or anything, manage to make such a mark in the room where it was explicitly stated that nobody could enter?

**Truth bullet acquired: Hole in the Wall**

**Truth bullet acquired: Student Rulebook**

There didn’t seem to be any other markings on the wall, so I decided to check the floor. Aside from the large pool of blood and the trail down the hallway, there wasn’t much to be found— At least until I stepped on something and nearly lost my footing. Fortunately, there was no crunching or cracking sound, so I could assume whatever was on the floor hadn’t been broken. Or, upon looking down, not by myself.

A relatively thick, sturdy-looking arrow was snapped in half, lying haphazardly on the floor. Crouching down, I tapped it carefully, testing the material. It felt dense; It couldn’t have been easy to break. A look at the arrow stuck in Shiori’s chest revealed that they were similar, if not the exact same type. But what happened that could have broken the arrow on the floor?

**Truth bullet acquired: Broken Arrow**

As I stood back up, I felt a hand clap against my shoulder, and barely resisted jumping halfway to the ceiling.

“Uh… Junichi?”

Looking behind me, I saw Chikako, who was looking at the floor, biting her lip nervously. I relaxed my posture, and hummed as a signal for her to continue.

“You said you were the one here with the most inquisitive experience, right? I… I think I need to tell you something.”

“And what would that be?” I asked quietly, peeking around the room. Nobody else seemed to be paying attention to the two of us, busy with their own investigations… or lack thereof.

“I think… well, maybe I might know something about what happened last night?” Chikako continued, appearing increasingly disturbed. “I was stressing about everything that’s been going on last night, and I wanted to get a late-night snack… So I left my room at around 1:10 AM. I heard some weird sounds though, and the lantern lights were off, so I couldn’t see.” She paused, and in a near-whisper, added, “I… I got scared and went back to my room after that.”

“What kind of sound did you hear?” I urged.

Chikako looked away, and I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I… I can’t really describe it. I know, it’s kind of useless, but… I don’t know how else to help. I just can’t believe someone really killed Shiori.”

I pursed my lips for a moment, and finally said, “We have to believe it. We don’t have a choice.”

Chikako’s tears threatened to spill over, and I was at a loss for words. Was someone she’d known for so little of a time truly so important to her?

Maybe it was a testament to the trials I’d been through that I felt such a distinct shortage of empathy. But at least I’d gleaned some information that could be useful later.

**Truth bullet acquired: Chikako’s Testimony**

“Junichi.”

The voice that saved me from having to confront Chikako’s crying was also the voice I wanted to hear the least.

“Daisuke,” I replied neutrally.

“Perhaps you should look somewhere else,” He said, subtly gesturing to Chikako in a way that suggested that he either had the desire to comfort her, or just didn’t want me to make the situation worse.

Either way, I was unfortunately grateful for the excuse to get out of the elevator room.

* * *

As I stepped down the hallway, careful to avoid the splatters of dried blood, I couldn’t help but feel unsettled. It wasn’t professional of me to have snapped, several times as a matter of fact, when confronted with such a dangerous situation. I made a mental note to remain more cool-headed next time.

_Next time. Because it’s finally starting to set in… the truth that none of us are safe._

I halted in place, suddenly feeling sickened at the revelation.

“Er… Junichi? Are you just gonna… stand there?”

I blinked, and shook my head to clear my thoughts. Akio, apparently, had chosen to remain in the central hub for his search. The lantern lights shone brightly, a colorful array that betrayed the sinister trap we found ourselves caught in. As I looked back to him, I noticed him shifting his weight from foot to foot, uneasy, as he adjusted the brim of his black cap.

“How long was I staring into space?”

“Something like a minute.”

“...Oh,” I replied mildly, and cleared my throat. “Um, you didn’t happen to find anything, did you?”

He probably didn’t, I assumed—

“I think I did. Uh, maybe.”

Oh. That was surprising.

Akio gestured for me to follow him, leaning down a bit with his hands on his knees, once he reached the center of the room where the pillar statue stood. I looked down beside him, and waited for him to elaborate.

“Y’see these marks on the statue?” Akio said, making a vague gesture to part of the pillar. I let my gaze follow; Surprisingly, there was a long, thin line going around the perimeter of the pillar, barely noticeable. “I know they weren’t there before. They’re kinda high up, but I don’t have a clue why they’re there.”

I was tempted to ask if he was sure the marks weren’t there before, but then I remembered that he’d been staring at the statue when I first encountered him; His memory was probably more accurate than mine.

“I’m sure there’s some sort of reason,” I murmured, and Akio straightened up, satisfied.

**Truth bullet acquired: Marks on Statue**

As soon as I’d stopped leaning down, a loud buzzing sound filtered through the room. I grimaced, and pulled out the monopad.

_Isn’t there any way to turn this thing on silent?!_

Before I could ruminate on that thought any longer, an image of Monokoumori appeared on the screen.

_Ding, dong, ding, dong!_

_“Ahem! I hope you’ve all had time to investigate to your heart’s content… because it is now officially time for the class trial! Everyone, please report to the central hub to be taken to the trial grounds! ...And of course, be sure to wake up any stragglers, lest they face a fate worse than death. Ahahahaha!”_

I grimaced as the sound of Monokoumori's laughter was abruptly cut off by the end of the announcement, and sidestepped along the pillar. Slowly but surely, the others began to filter in; Yuuya, Tetsuo, and Miyu finally emerged from their rooms down the hallways, and in a single-file line, so did Emiko, Ruri, and Lucidia, all wearing varying expressions of dejection. If my hunch was correct, they hadn’t found anything incriminating in Hiroe’s room. And yet…

Before my thought could be finished, a loud rumbling sound reverberated, and the pillar I was mere feet from began to shake along with it. I managed to retreat just in time for the pillar to shatter to pieces, revealing what looked like a manhole cover. For several moments, nobody moved— each of us too shocked to approach it. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the manhole cover opened up, revealing that it was, in fact, a hatch with a ladder leading below the floor, down into darkness. With only moments to spare, Monokoumori popped out of the hatch with a mighty flap of her wings, and scanned the room.

"Oh goody! It looks like everyone's here… or at least, everyone who's still alive."

As intended, her words squashed any enthusiasm that might have remained in the room. Not that there was much to be found, as everyone wore a distinctly uneasy expression.

“If you’ll so kindly step down this hatch’s ladder, you’ll make your way to the trial grounds! Fair warning though, you’ll want to be careful as you enter! It’s pretty dark down there, and it’d be a shame to waste a good punishment on an already-dead body.”

“Perhaps it would be wiser for those of us with skirts and dresses to enter first, then,” Ai said blankly, no sense of humor evident in her voice.

“Uh… right,” Ruri said, looking more and more queasy. “I guess I’ll go first, then.”

Ruri cautiously stepped forward, letting herself ease down the ladder into the depths of whatever ‘trial grounds’ Monokoumori had prepared. Ai then followed shortly after, and Lucidia scoffed as she followed as well. Monokoumori, meanwhile, stood by, watching each of us, most likely making sure nobody skipped out.

I watched as the others followed, each making their way into the unknown, until the only one who remained was myself… or so I’d wanted, anyway.

“Junichi.”

A curt, overly-formal voice.

“Did you need something, Hiroe?” I asked.

Hiroe merely stared at me. I stared back; I wasn’t sure what she was searching for in my expression, but eventually, she sighed.

“You suspect I really did it, don’t you?”

Furrowing my brows, I answered, “Not only you, no. But anyone here could have killed Shiori. I can’t discount you just because you _look_ innocent. Everyone here does.”

(Realistically speaking, Hiroe was actually one of the least innocent-looking people trapped with me… but I avoided saying that out loud.)

Hiroe narrowed her eyes and me, and stepped forward to climb down the ladder, only pausing to reply sharply: “I chose to put faith in my peers. Even after this incident, I still hold the hopes that we can power through as a collective. You could learn a thing or two by doing the same.”

With that cryptically-worded diss, Hiroe descended.

“Wow,” Monokoumori whistled out, “She really knocked you down a peg!”

I side-eyed Monokoumori.

“Shut up.”

And I descended as well.

_“You know… sometimes, life can feel kind of scary. But don’t you think you can do something constructive with that fear? For example… One time, I was comfortably resting in the cranny of a big red barn out in the country. When I flew out of the little cove I’d made… I saw an owl on the roof of the barn! I was so scared, I almost combusted right on the spot! But the owl wasn’t moving, so I decided to go for a sneak attack… I waited until dawn, and then sent the owl careening off the barn roof! It fell to the ground with a clatter, making a real mess. That was when I realized… the owl was ceramic! It was just put there to keep other owls from getting too close to the barn and making a nest. Who’da thunk it? So I guess in the end, my fear really was for nothing…” ___


	8. Ch.1, Class Trial (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Now then, let’s begin with a simple explanation of the class trial."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **PLEASE TURN ON THE CREATOR'S STYLE FOR THIS CHAPTER!** Otherwise things will look very weird!!!
> 
> Also also also, if you haven't read the previous chapters yet (or if you need a refresher on the investigation), please take the opportunity to do so now!
> 
> AND!!! If you like what you've read so far, please please PLEASE comment! I cannot express how important it is to know that people are engaging with this and that I'm not just shouting into the void!!!

Descending the ladder felt as though it took ages, though in reality, it couldn’t have been more than a minute at most. As soon as my feet reached solid ground, I took a moment to really, truly observe my surroundings. Focusing on not falling and landing flat on my ass had taken priority, but now… Once again, I was trapped in an endlessly-stretching hallway. I stepped forward, seeing as there was nowhere else to go, gradually letting my eyes adjust to the increasing light. Finally, the hallway gave way to a large room. And god, was it tacky.

The same dimly-lit purple covered the walls of the room, save for the entry to the hallway I had just exited, and a curtained wall opposite it. The curtain was mostly overshadowed by the gaudy throne in front of it, which looked far too small for someone my size and stature.

(Not that there was any reason for me to sit on it. Just who do you think I am?)

The throne was just one feature of the room’s center, though; Adjacent to it, making a roughly-complete circle, were a series of fifteen crescent-shaped podiums, almost all of which were occupied by the others who had entered before me (aside from Tetsuo, who was meditating in the center of the circle of podiums for god-knows-what reason, and a standee on another podium with a grayscale portrait of the now-deceased Shiori, her face partially obscured by a shoddily-painted wrench and screwdriver in the shape of an ‘X’.) I looked at one of the podiums, which upon closer inspection, had a nameplate on the interior rim of it.

_J. Sasaki_

I gulped, and assumed my assigned position as I continued to look around the room.

The shape of the room was almost round; It was hard to tell what it was actually like, due to a series of small off-white pillars and sets of tiles leading to an ivory finish at the top. The floor was covered in large black and indigo checkered tiles, and the ceiling was too dark to actually determine where it ended. Logically, the room should have been pitch-black, since there was no apparent light source. But the truth was quickly sinking in that there was absolutely no logic to be found in the situation we were in.

For several moments, nobody said anything. Nobody mentioned the silence, nobody mentioned the throne, and nobody mentioned the portrait of Shiori, unblinking and unfeeling.

“Sheesh, what a sorry bunch of sadsacks! Perk up a little, why don’t you?”

Everyone’s gaze snapped to the throne, which was now perched upon by Monokoumori.

_When did she even arrive?!_

Monokoumori made a robotic humming sound as she tossed something up in the air and back down a few times, a metallic clattering sound ringing each time it landed in her hands (wings?)— It was the husk of the robotic egg.

“Come on, come on! This is the fun part of the experience! Nobody will be interested if you all just stand around being blue.” She paused, and looked at Tetsuo. “And just what the heck are you doing?”

Tetsuo frowned, and stood up; “I was trying to see if I could channel Shiori, but it didn’t work.”

Yuuya looked at him, confused.

“Are you gonna fall asleep?”

 _“Absolutely not!”_ Monokoumori shrieked suddenly. “No sleeping, eating, or drinking is allowed in the class trial!”

“I don’t think any of us have an appetite after what happened,” Yuuto said solemnly, fussing with the strings of his facemask.

And the mood fell, as the curtain rose on the beginning of our first class trial.

* * *

|  **MONOKOUMORI:** Now then, let’s begin with a simple explanation of the class trial.  
---|---  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** During the class trial, you will present your arguments for who the killer is, and vote for whodunnit.  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** If you vote correctly, then only the blackened will receive punishment. But if you pick the wrong person...  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will earn the right to escape this killing game!  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** H-hey, wait a second! How are we supposed to just choose a killer?!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** You’re acting like we have a choice...  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** But we don’t even have a clue of who the killer is! It’s not like anyone was just walking around covered in blood.  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Shouldn’t it be obvious? The only one capable of killing Shiori is the sharpshooter. Case closed.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** You still haven’t realized it? That’s far too obvious.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** Why would I use my own weapons, which all of you were aware of, to commit a murder? I’m smarter than to implicate myself.  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** Y-yeah, that’s a good point.  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:** So we’re still at square one. W-we can’t identify the killer like this.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Maybe we’re looking at this from the wrong angle.  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** What do you mean by that?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Obviously, we can’t just start looking for the killer. There are too many loose threads in this case to do that right away.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Aside from the murderer, there are still some mysteries surrounding the method. You agree with me, right Daisuke?  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:**...  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** Very well. Then let’s begin by hearing everyone’s theories, shall we?  
  
* * *

## NONSTOP DEBATE

* * *

|  **MIYU WADA:** Shiori was always so bright and cheerful...  
---|---  
|  **MIYU WADA:** To think she died by getting shot... How unfair!  
|  **YUUYA TSUBASA:** Man... at least it was quick and painless, y’know?  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Quick and painless? No way! There was obviously a struggle!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Oh? And, pray tell, what makes you think that?  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Duh, Shiori would have fought back if there was someone trying to kill her!  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** She probably got knocked out or something, and then, when she had no chance to escape...  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** You’re putting an awful lot of faith in someone you barely knew.  
  
* * *

##  BREAK: Monokoumori File → "got knocked out" 

* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** That can’t be right, Akio.  
---|---  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Huh? What do you mean?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** According to the Monokoumori File, there weren’t any other external injuries. No bruises or cuts or anything.  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Huh. Well, that might be true, but... Maybe Shiori just didn’t get hit in the struggle!   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** You seem awfully persistent with the idea that there was a struggle...  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Hey, I have a reason for it!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Care to enlighten us then? Remember, if you’re wrong, you’ll just seem suspicious.  
  
* * *

## NONSTOP DEBATE

* * *

|  **AKIO FUJITA:** There’s another reason why I think there was a struggle.  
---|---  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** The hole in the wall from the elevator room!  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** Someone must have fought Shiori and put it there by accident.  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Well yeah, who would put a hole in the wall on purpose?  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** It’s a small hole though. If a struggle caused it, it would be much bigger.  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** I think you’re forgetting something.  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** They couldn’t have fought in the elevator room. It’s not possible.  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Anything is possible if you put your heart and soul into it!  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:**...Are you serious right now?  
  
* * *

##  BREAK: Rulebook → "It's not possible" 

* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** As much as I don’t want to say it, I agree with Daisuke.  
---|---  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** So it seems.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Take a look at the rulebook. More specifically, rule number four.  
  
  
_Curfew is from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM. During curfew, some areas of the building may be restricted to enter, such as the elevator room, and entry can only be allowed by special permission from the headmaster. Setting foot inside these areas without permission will also result in immediate expulsion._  


|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Up until the beginning of the investigation, the elevator room was off-limits to any student. We only found the body because Monokoumori let us explore.  
---|---  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** Yup yup! If one of you had stepped into that room... it would have been very, very unfortunate.  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:**...Oh. I see...  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** Looks like the lightbulb finally lit up.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** Wait a second. If Shiori wasn’t killed in the elevator room, that would mean her body had to be moved.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** But how is that possible? The body was too far into the room. Even I don’t have the strength to fling a body all the way across a hallway.  
|  **YUUYA TSUBASA:** Mannnn, this is all so confusing.  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Of course you’d be the one to say it.  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Maybe we should move onto a different topic of conversation? This one isn’t helping much, right?  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Hmmmmmm...  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Wait! I got it! I understand everything now!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** You do?!  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Yeah!  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** This entire class trial is just bullshit, and it’s all Monokoumori’s fault!  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** It takes some guts to say something like that to me, missy!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (This room is full of idiots...)  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Just listen to me, guys! I can clear everything up ASAP!  
  
* * *

## NONSTOP DEBATE

* * *

|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** For all we know, this could all be a lie!  
---|---  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Monokoumori could be lying about the time of death...  
|  **EMIKO ISSHIKI:** Or maybe about the cause of death!  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** Are you stupid? The arrow was obviously the cause of death.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** Using one of my arrows to murder is despicable.  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:** U-um, maybe Emiko has a point?  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:** Monokoumori isn’t really reliable...  
  
* * *

##  BREAK: Chikako's Testimony → "lying about the time of death" 

* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Chikako, you can put a stop to this dumb line of thinking, can’t you?  
---|---  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** Wait, me?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Yeah, you. You had told me something very interesting earlier this morning...  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA (flashback):** _“I was stressing about everything that’s been going on last night, and I wanted to get a late-night snack… So I left my room at around 1:10 AM. I heard some weird sounds though, and the lantern lights were off, so I couldn’t see... I… I got scared and went back to my room after that.”_  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** Yeah! And the murder took place a little bit before... I must have heard the murderer doing something then!  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:**...But then, is it my fault for not trying to stop them?  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Don’t blame yourself for it. You weren’t able to see, right? You had no idea what was going on.  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** I guess...  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** But then that raises the question, why were the lights off?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (She has a point... The lights had to be off for a reason, didn’t they?)  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (The reason the lights were off was...)  
  
* * *

CHOOSE AN ANSWER: 

  * Someone snapped the wires
  * **Someone unplugged them**
  * Monokoumori was being considerate



* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Someone must have unplugged them. Since the lights were on again this morning, they had to still be working.  
---|---  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** And Monokoumori probably wouldn’t turn them off just for us, right?  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** How rude! I’m insulted that you think I wouldn’t go to great lengths for my students’ comfort!  
|  **MONOKOUMORI:**...But yeah, you’re right. The lights were supposed to be on at night.  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** That leaves us with one more problem.  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** Just one?  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** You know what I mean. But here’s the thing...  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** It doesn’t make sense for the lights to be off. After all, if Shiori was somehow put in the elevator room, then isn’t that hallway already dark enough?  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:**...Hm.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Daisuke’s humming obnoxiously loud. Does he know something?)  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Well, anyway, I don’t really get what’s going on. Can one of you guys explain?  
  
* * *

## NONSTOP DEBATE

* * *

|  **RURI HATTORI:** Why would someone unplug the lights? It doesn’t make sense.  
---|---  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** Unless the killer wanted it to be dark.  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** Or if the killer was using them for something else.  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** But what would a killer use lights for?  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** I’m not completely sure. Perhaps they were tied around something.  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** Or perhaps to illuminate another area.  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:** But how do either of those fit into the murder?  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:** Ah, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said anything!  
  
* * *

##  BREAK: Scrapes on the Statue → "tied around something" 

* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The lantern lights were definitely tied around something.  
---|---  
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** You’re referring to the scrapes on the statue in the middle of the central hub, right?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Way to steal my thunder, kid.)  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** That’s right. There were clear indentations on the statue that weren’t there before. And the lantern wire is pretty sturdy.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** I don’t think there’s anything else strong enough that could make that kind of shape, either.  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** That poses a problem, though.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Give me a break!)  
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** What was the purpose of tying the wire around the statue?  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Oh, I think I’ve got it!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** You’re far too enthusiastic about all of this. It’s unsettling.  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Maybe the other end of the lights was tied around something else too!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:**...  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Stultiloquence.  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:**...What's that?  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** A formal noun. Synonyms with tripe, babble, or as you may know it, fool’s talk.  
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Geez, I’m just trying to help.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Wait... Tetsuo might be onto something. There are still pieces of the puzzle that we haven’t accounted for yet.)  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** I think I know what the answer is.  
  
* * *

SELECT EVIDENCE: 

  * Broken Arrow



* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** What if the other end of the lantern wire was attached to the other arrow in the elevator room? The one that was snapped in half?  
---|---  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:**...  
|  **YUUTO ONODERA:**...  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:**...  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Sure, keep looking at me like I’m an idiot. That’ll help.)  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** Interesting theory, Junichi. Would you care to elaborate?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** I think the pieces are starting to come together. The arrow had to have some purpose in the murder.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** And if it was tied to the lantern lights, and then the lights to the statue, don’t you think there’d be a reason?  
|  **YUUYA TSUBASA:** Uuuuuugh, this is messing with my brain, dude!  
  
* * *

## NONSTOP DEBATE

* * *

|  **YUUYA TSUBASA:** Why would someone tie an arrow to some lights?  
---|---  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** I don’t think there is a reason.  
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** There's no proof that it was used for anything in this case… right?  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** I feel like... there’s something we’re forgetting about.  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** Well, this is getting interesting!  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Don’t sound so smug! I bet whoever the killer is put the arrow there to mess with us.  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** That has to be it, right?  
  
* * *

##  BREAK: Hole in the Wall → "no proof that it was used" 

* * *

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The arrow had to have been used. There’s no getting around it.  
---|---  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** And for what, exactly? It was broken in half. It’s a dead-end clue!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** No, I don’t think so. The arrow left another important clue in the elevator room.  
|  **FUMIO INOUE:** Another important clue?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The hole in the wall in the elevator room. Don’t forget, there’s no way for someone to step inside the elevator room.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** However, that rule doesn’t apply to inanimate objects.  
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** Or corpses, apparently.  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The arrow could have been shot into the elevator room. How else would you explain a mark on the wall five feet from the ground?  
|  **MIYU WADA:** So then, like... If the lantern wire was attached to the arrow and the statue, it’d totally make some sort of connection between the rooms!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:**...  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Oh, have you finally decided to rejoin the conversation?  
|  **MIYU WADA:** Frowny face!  
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** *Sigh...*  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** But what’s the point? The lantern wire is too thin to use like a bridge. Nobody could cross it!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Wait a minute... Could it be...?)  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** No, Akio. You’re wrong. There is someone who could do it.  
|  **AKIO FUJITA:** N-no way! Then who is it?!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** As much as I want to deny it, it has to be...  
  
* * *

##  ACCUSE SOMEONE! 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who do you think it is? :0
> 
> I'm working on turning the execution into a video too! But you'll have to stay tuned for that.


	9. Ch.1, Class Trial (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wasn’t that fun?” Monokoumori clapped, making several of the others look behind themselves; She’d probably reappeared in the back of the room, but I didn’t dare to follow their gazes. I merely stared as the screen slowly ascended again, revealing the hallway as if nothing had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, to anyone who still actually cares about this fic ^^; Thanks for reading thus far! I'm not sure if I'm gonna continue beyond this chapter anytime soon, but I appreciate comments and kudos all the same.
> 
> Don't forget to turn on Creator's Style!

##  → ACCUSE: Ruri Hattori 

|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** It could only be you, Ruri!  
---|---  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Huh-- me?!  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** It has to be you. You’re the only one who could have pulled off that kind of stunt.  
|  **RURI HATTORI:** “That kind of stunt”? What are you talking about?  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** If I recall correctly... there was something you said to me when we were investigating the red hall the other day. _“I mean, my room looks kind of like the inside of a circus tent. There are mechanical tigers, clown outfits, fire sticks, and even a tightrope!”_  
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The wire of the lantern lights and the arrow could easily be strong enough to support the weight of someone who knew what they were doing... for example, if they were using the wire as a tightrope!   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Someone who could easily balance without falling. Someone who was small but strong enough to carry a body.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Someone like you.   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** H-hey, don’t point fingers at me like that! Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions?   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** Shiori was my friend! I don’t have any reason why I would want her dead!   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Are you completely sure about that, Ruri?   
|  **RURI HATTORI:**...What are you trying to get at?   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** I have no motive, remember? My secret was already read out loud, so everyone heard it!   
|  **LUCIDIA LAYTON:** Who cares about your motive now? You sound suspicious.   
|  **TETSUO ISAYAMA:** Weren’t you the one who rattled off her secret to begin with?   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** No, really… you’re making a huge mistake! I’m not the bad guy here, I swear!   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (‘Not the bad guy’? That was worded strangely…)   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Wait a minute… could it be?)   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** The motive didn’t matter to you, Ruri.   
|  **YUUYA TSUBASA:** Huh? But why else would she kill Shiori?   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** I didn't...   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** What mattered was that you stopped the person controlling Monokoumori.   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** That… it’s… I…   
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** …   
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** Controlling Monokoumori? What do you mean?   
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** Yeah, Whiz-Kid, what do you mean?   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Don’t play dumb. Someone’s controlling you from the outside.   
|  **MONOKOUMORI:** Interesting theory! What else does that brain of yours come up with?   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Monokoumori is a robot. Shiori was the ultimate roboticist. It makes sense that Ruri would come to that sort of conclusion.   
|  **CHIKAKO UEDA:** H-hey… can you blame her? I mean, she was trying to save us… probably.   
|  **HIROE KOBAYASHI:** Regardless of her reasoning, Ruri still committed a heinous crime.   
|  **RURI HATTORI:**...   
|  **AI KUROSAWA:** But surely being a roboticist wouldn’t merit suspicion by itself. Shiori must have incited her somehow.   
|  **RURI HATTORI:** All of you... just stop.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** …!   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (Was she on the verge of confessing?)   
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** You’re all putting a sizable amount of pressure on Ruri.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** (This guy again?)   
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** If I were in her situation, I’d probably do the same. Crowding around her isn’t going to get us anywhere.   
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:**...Junichi.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:**...Ah?   
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** Your job as a reporter is to give a voice to those who can’t speak, correct?   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:**...Journalist.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** But anyway, what are you getting at?   
|  **DAISUKE GODAI:** Perhaps you can shed some light on this event. Go over it from start to finish, so we don’t miss any details. You’re capable of that.   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:**...   
|  **JUNICHI SASAKI:** Alright. I’ll make sure everything is so clear that none of you can miss it.   
  
* * *

##  CLOSING ARGUMENT 

* * *

PART 1 

  * It all started when we gathered to destroy Hiroe's weapons with the hydraulic press yesterday.
  * While we were distracted by moving the firearms, the killer managed to sneak out a crossbow and a pair of arrows.
  * It was easy, since the killer's room was right next to Hiroe's.



PART 2 

  * We can assume that the killer managed to lure Shiori out of the room somehow… perhaps by using the monopod’s call app.
  * When the killer and Shiori met up, the killer was already prepared.
  * They brought the crossbow and arrows they'd taken from Hiroe's room… and shot her.
  * After the fact, the killer heard the sound of someone approaching down the hallway, and realized that they couldn't hide.
  * So they quickly hatched a plan.



PART 3 

  * The killer unplugged the lantern lights to avoid being seen, and made their way to the statue in the center of the room.
  * Figuring out that Shiori's body wouldn't be able to be accessed from the elevator room, the killer created a bridge between the two rooms.
  * By tying one end of the cord around the statue, and the other around the end of the second arrow, they shot the crossbow again and made a precarious path.



PART 4 

  * They carefully balanced Shiori's body and the weapon, and crossed from the hub to the elevator room as if they were using a tightrope.
  * The arrow was just strong enough to support their weight as they dropped Shiori and the crossbow, and walked back to the central hub.
  * After the killer made it back to safety, they pulled the cord to bring it back, which snapped the arrow in half.



PART 5 

  * Once they knew the coast was clear, the killer plugged the lantern lights back in, and returned to their room to wash off like nothing had ever happened.
  * Finally, this morning, they joined us in the central hub as we entered the elevator room to investigate.
  * However, there was no way to hide the damage that had been done. Putting the body in the elevator room was what made the truth come to light, not the other way around.
  * And there’s only one person who could have put the body there in the first place.



##  Isn't that right, Ruri Hattori? 

  


* * *

**RURI HATTORI:**...

**YUUTO ONODERA:** Ruri? Are you... giving up?

**RURI HATTORI:** You guys… you… you really don’t get it, do you?

**LUCIDIA LAYTON:** So you're going to deny it to the end?

**RURI HATTORI:** No, that's not it... I...

**RURI HATTORI:** I'm so sorry...

**MONOKOUMORI:** Snnnnnz… hrnk… huh… OH!

**MONOKOUMORI:** Is it time? Did I miss voting time?!

**JUNICHI SASAKI:**...Voting time?

**MONOKOUMORI:** Weren’t you listening at the beginning of the trial? You all need to vote for whodunnit!

**MONOKOUMORI:** And don’t even think about NOT voting, ‘cause it won’t end up pretty if you abstain!

**MONOKOUMORI:** Well, since I didn’t appear to miss it… It’s voting time! Please use the touchpad available on your podium to select who you think the blackened is!

**MONOKOUMORI:** Will you make the right choice? Or the dreadfully wrong one?

* * *

“Hey, wouldja lookit that!” Monokoumori tittered, sweeping her gaze across the room, “You all voted correctly— Each and every one of you!”

The oppressive atmosphere in the room turned ten times as heavy as it had been before. I swallowed thickly, unable to bring myself to look at Ruri. I didn’t want to admit it, but after all that had happened, after all I’d learned… I was scared. Scared of what she’d done, scared of what would happen next… scared of what would happen to her.

“Eh?” Monokoumori piped up again, “What’s with those gloomy faces you’re all wearing! You’re all going to survive another day! ...Or rather, all but one.”

Ruri’s face paled.

“Ruri…” Came a calm voice from the opposite end of the room.

A glance to the side, and I felt my eyes twitch.

“Why did you do it?” Diauske asked, far more gently than he had any right to do.

“I…” Ruri started, her eyes flickering across every corner of the room, yet meeting nobody else’s gaze, “I was… I was scared.”

“Being scared doesn’t give you the right to kill someone,” Lucidia sneered.

 _“I didn’t want to!”_ Ruri screamed suddenly.

Her voice echoed through the area, and even Lucidia was taken aback.

“I just…” Ruri continued, “I hadn’t brought the arrows to kill her. I brought them for self-defense at first. And it was just like Junichi said… I called her with the monopod app, because I didn’t want to risk getting anyone else involved if something happened. But when I met her last night… she was carrying it…”

A sob wrenched its way out of her throat, and tears began to drip from her face to the floor.

“It?” Hiroe pressed on, furrowing her brows.

“The red robot egg… that stupid thing that broke yesterday. I saw her with it, and I thought… I thought she would… I don’t know what I thought! But… but I panicked, and before I knew it… I’d already pulled the trigger on the crossbow, and she was there on the floor, and… and…”

“Why was she carrying the egg?” Emiko asked out loud. “There’d be no reason to carry that busted thing around, it’s basically scrap metal.”

“I don’t know,” Ruri said, her voice suddenly quiet. “I don’t know. If she didn’t fix it…”

“Hmm,” Monokoumori hummed, interrupting the conversation, “I wonder what she was up to! It’s a good thing you offed her before she could crack the passcode on my computer, though. That would’ve been very troublesome!”

“Oh… oh god, what have I done?” Ruri stuttered out shakily, looking down and clenching her fists so tightly she could have ripped the fabric of her gloves.

“Well, anyway,” Monokoumori dismissed, “I’ve had just about enough of the sob story portion of this thing, so… let’s get on with the best part of the trial!”

I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach, and stepped back. My mouth dried, my throat closed, and suddenly, my fear returned.

“I’ve prepared a very special punishment for Ruri Hattori, the ultimate ringmaster!”

Before any of us could react, the sounds of metal screeching against metal and loud rumbles permeated the air. Ruri froze in her spot, and looked at me despondently.

I couldn’t help but look back.

_“Iiiiiiit’s punishment time!”_

* * *

[(Alternate link here...)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMayj5ZM2AI)

* * *

We stood there, unable to move.

The screen that had descended from the hallway that Ruri had been dragged through flickered off, leaving the rest of us to stare emptily at the ghost of the video.

Water, tinted red with blood, as Ruri was taken away from us.

Nobody said a word for several long moments. I couldn’t hear anything, the ringing in my ears too loud to process anything else.

“Wasn’t that fun?” Monokoumori clapped, making several of the others look behind themselves; She’d probably reappeared in the back of the room, but I didn’t dare to follow their gazes. I merely stared as the screen slowly ascended again, revealing the hallway as if nothing had happened.

“Y-you…” Miyu spoke up suddenly, her voice sounding wet, “You killed her! You killed Ruri!”

“Wrong, wrong, wrong!” Monokoumori ‘tsk’ed, “She killed herself when she chose to murder another student! That’s how it works in this killing game, dollface! Hope and despair, life and death! There’s no avoiding it here!”

Miyu looked as though she wanted to protest, but all that exited her mouth was a choked sob.

“Hey…” Yuuya said, in a shaky voice that suggested he was actually aware of what had just happened, “Don’t start crying, or… or else I’ll start crying too…”

The quiet hiccups of repressed cries quietly echoed through the room, coming from all directions. It seemed there were only a few unaffected by the sight; Most notably, Hiroe, who made her way to the center of the room, and looked up at the ceiling, where the ladder had led from before the class trial started.

“Are we allowed to go back up now?”

Hiroe’s voice was steady, with no audible cues to imply she had been moved by the sight.

“Wow,” Lucidia interrupted before Monokoumori could answer, “I figured you had no morality before, but this is a whole other level of stoicism.”

_“Shut up!”_

All eyes snapped to the source of the outburst, which came directly from Tetsuo.

“You guys are disrespecting Ruri’s memory by arguing after her death. Can’t any of you spare a moment to give her spirit some peace?” Tetsuo glared, which turned his usually calm demeanor into something much more serious. “Both she and Shiori won’t be able to rest until we can figure out a way out of here, so… so…!”

Suddenly, Daisuke approached Tetsuo, and put a gentle hand on his back. “So we need to set our egos aside and work together like we did before. Is that right?”

Tetsuo’s glare faltered, and he looked at Daisuke with some amount of gratitude. “Yeah… yeah, that’s right.”

Daisuke nodded, and removed his hand from Tetsuo’s back. “I think the best way to honor them would be to find freedom. What they were fighting for, that is.”

For some reason, I had no will to glare at Daisuke. All I could feel was a sudden emptiness. I barely registered the sound of the ladder descending from above, the sound of everyone solemnly climbing back into the hexagonal hub, the sound of my own footsteps as I headed back to my farce of a bedroom and promptly collapsed onto the floor.

Something inside me had shifted, for better or for worse.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment (it can be theories, questions, anything!) so I can know how many people are interested in this silly little thing ;u;
> 
> And you can follow me on twitter @doomtemp !


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